Lately, there have been some very heated debates about the appropriateness of displaying the Confederate flag and the preservation of confederate statues.
Here is the central question. Is there any distinction between the US flag and the Confederate flag?
If it is appropriate to fly both the US flag and the Confederate flag together, for example, NASCAR or State properties, then does that suggest that there is no daylight between what they each represent?
If on the other hand critics contend that the Confederate flag is a symbol of treason and hate and should not be publicly displayed, then should not the statues be retired too?
Is it possible to be patriotic to two flags that represent opposing ideologies at the same time? How does a person split their allegiance between a traitorous flag and simultaneously a righteous flag, unless both flags represent the same ideology?
Is there any daylight in meaning then, between the US flag and the Confederate flag? How can they both occupy the same space at the same time?
Is it possible that those who so easily raise both of these flags on the same flagpole, see America as an unevolved slave state? How about the persons who silently rationalize flying both flags, but claim not to accept the underlying implications?
How wide or how narrow is the gap between the US and Confederate flags?
Stan Brooks, PhD
