“From the end of the Civil War until the late 1940s, display of the battle flag was mostly limited to Confederate commemorations, Civil War re-enactments, and veterans’ parades,” the study read. But “In 1948, the battle flag began to take on a different meaning when it appeared at the Dixiecrat convention in Birmingham as a symbol of southern protest and resistance to the federal government – displaying the flag then acquired a more political significance after this convention.” Then it became associated with the fight to preserve segregation and racist violence, waved by Alabama Gov. George Wallace and the Ku Klux Klan.
Once again, the flag, the concept of state defiance of the federal government, and a wicked institution were all wrapped together. In breaking down segregation, the federal government claimed vast new powers that it exerted in other areas, and the U.S. Supreme Court augmented Washington’s ability to regulate activity through the Commerce Clause.
To this day, any argument modern conservatives try to make about restrictions on federal power inevitably leads back to the question of whether the same principle of federal restraint should have allowed segregation to persist. Conservatives who try to defend the flag (or who are afraid to criticize it) are only reinforcing the perception that supporters of limited government don’t really care about the historical or modern day struggles of black Americans.
Even though the flag no longer rests on the top of the South Carolina capitol dome, it still remains on the grounds of the capitol, serving as an ugly reminder of dark legacies in American history that continue to haunt the nation and damage the cause of limited government. It’s long past time to tear down this flag.
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