Capture the Flag
Jennifer Merri Parker
October 1, 2001
Well over a century after the Civil War and Reconstruction, three decades since the height of the civil rights movement, and 15 years since The Dukes of Hazzard was on primetime, Southerners are still obsessed with their most recognizable symbol. The furor over the Confederate banner flying over South Carolina's statehouse was still flapping when Mississippi legislators proposed a redesign of their own state flag. My state flag. Although I am working and living elsewhere, I consider myself a temporarily dislocated Mississippian and maintain a healthy interest in affairs down home. So when news came to me of an upcoming vote to do away with the old state flag-featuring since its 1894 adoption an inset of the Confederate battle emblem-in favor of a new, more inclusive design, I formed an immediate opinion. And then I caught immediate flack for not toeing the expected line.
My crime? Being an African American who favored preserving the current design of the flag. As I tried to explain to my family members, black acquaintances, and white "new South" liberal Christian friends who voted for the redesign, I believe that a symbol belongs to the people who interpret it. They are the ones who give it its power, and they can also give it new meaning. The Southern Cross may represent Dixie's long-lost and longed-for heritage of white power to some, but to others, including me, it's a reminder of a past that's been overcome.
Born in 1967 and raised and educated in rural Mississippi, I am well aware of the state's past and present problems. I do understand the arguments for change, and I applaud the spirit of reconciliation and progress behind them. But my initial reaction when I heard about the imminent referendum was a cynical wink: "Get ...
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