Contested Landscape: Confederate Symbols in America

BackStory

Education, History

4.5 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2015

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In July of this year, the murder of nine African-American parishioners at the Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina reignited a longstanding debate about the Confederate flag. Soon after the shooting, South Carolina lawmakers voted to remove the flag from the State House building, and many other states followed suit. But while some Americans applaud the decision as a victory against racism and hatred, others argue that the flag’s removal dishonors the memory of those who died defending the South. On this episode of BackStory, we’re looking at how memories of the Confederacy have shaped the nation’s landscape, from the rebel flag to the silver screen. The Guys will hear what symbols of the Confederacy mean to African Americans, explore Hollywood’s love affair with Confederate heroes, and find out why one Civil War re-enactor changed his mind about his heritage. How have generations of Americans revered and renounced the Confederacy since its defeat 150 years ago? Correction: In an earlier version of this episode we stated that Richmond's Monument Avenue is the only street on the National Register of Historic Places. There are several streets on the list. We regret the error.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is backstory. I'm Peter Onuf. This past summer, the racially motivated shootings at a church in South Carolina
0:06.8	revived a uniquely American debate. Why is the Confederate flag so polarizing?
0:12.1	It represents my ancestors. Is it hate or is it Southern Heritage?
0:16.1	The Confederate battle flag has long been the focus of controversy. When it was flown at a commemoration in 1890, it was the focus of fear.
0:27.3	The African-American newspapers were so distressed at the meaning of the reappearance of the Confederate flag.
0:35.3	Today, what to do with America's contested Confederate landscape statues, monuments, the flag, and their future?
0:42.3	I know we speak of not wanting to move or take down these symbols because they're history, but they were intended to make a mockery of history.
0:53.3	Coming up on backstory, reckoning with Confederate memory, don't go away.
1:00.3	Major funding for backstory is provided by an anonymous donor, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, and the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.
1:13.3	From the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, this is backstory, with the American History Guys.
1:23.3	Welcome to the show. I'm Brian Ballot, and I'm here with Peter Onath.
1:28.3	Hey, Brian. And Ed Ares is with us.
1:30.3	Hi, Brian. We're going to start today's episode with the Confederate flag, but not the one you're picturing.
1:35.3	It is an amazing variety of Confederate flags plural.
1:40.3	This is John Kusky, author of the Confederate Battle Flag, America's Most Embattled Emblem, and historian at the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia.
1:50.3	For full disclosure, I should mention here that I'm chair of the board of that museum.
1:54.3	Anyway, I met John at the museum where it is true. There is an incredible array of Confederate flags.
2:00.3	One thing about Confederate flags for people who study 1860s Confederate flags, there were lots and lots of them.
2:07.3	The story of the flag, or flags, began in 1861.
2:13.3	That's when the Confederate Congress formed a committee to solicit designs for a national flag, one that could rally the South to its cause.
2:23.3	Some fought for a design that was entirely new and distinctively southern, such as a pometrantry.
2:29.3	But most Confederates referred to something that looked familiar.
	...

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