Anna Rae Gwarjanski Portfolio |
So many people on my timeline are upset about the Confederate flag being taken out of Nascar and Confederate monuments being taken out of public places.
I don't get it. Story time: I remember learning about the Civil War when I was little, maybe 8 or so. Then, I believed it was 100% about states' rights. I loved my home state of Alabama and I loved being from the South (I still do). I read something about "heritage not hate," and my young mind bought into that. I was proud of where I was from, and the Confederate flag represents that, right? My mom and I went to Trade Day one weekend, and I saw a rebel flag sticker, or something similar (I don't remember exactly what it was). I told her I wanted to buy it. She explained to me, in simple terms, how seeing that flag is painful to some people, because it represents a time when they were cruelly considered less than human, brutally beaten, and murdered. When they see people wave that flag, it tells them that there are people who wish we could go back to that era, and it's hurtful, to say the very least. And that's all it took. I thought, "oh, ok, well I don't want to hurt anyone, so I can be proud of other things about where I'm from." I'm proud of the South's reputation of hospitality and generosity. I'm proud of growing up swimming in creeks and driving on gravel roads. I'm proud of my family's Thanksgiving recipes. I'm proud of my football team. I'm not proud of our country’s evil history of slavery. I'm not proud that people who looked like me used to own other people. Am I a slave owner? No. Did anyone in my family tree ever own slaves? I don't think so. But neither of those things negate the hurt it would spread if I started waving the Confederate flag. Because my undeveloped brain could understand how that flag is damaging, it's difficult for me to fathom how grown adults can uphold it. Those of you who do fly that flag or support its visibility, do you really consider it the epitome of what you'd like to celebrate about your heritage? Is that really what you're most proud of? You can love where you're from and still be appropriately ashamed of its ugly parts. You can want to make it better. I'm all for remembering history, but remnants of the Confederacy are just that -- history. They have no place in the 21st century.
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About the AuthorConfessions of a failed southern lady. I've got messy hair and a thirsty heart. Writer, photographer, career wanderer. Archives
May 2023
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