{"id":329,"date":"2019-03-08T22:12:50","date_gmt":"2019-03-09T03:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/donnadufresne.com\/~donnadu1\/?p=329"},"modified":"2019-03-08T22:13:02","modified_gmt":"2019-03-09T03:13:02","slug":"that-old-dixie-flag-revised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/donnadufresne.com\/~donnadu1\/that-old-dixie-flag-revised\/","title":{"rendered":"That Old Dixie Flag Revised"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Donna Dufresne<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            I love the Quiet Corner of\nConnecticut \u2013 the soft, rolling hills dotted with farms, the little villages accented\nby white steeples and general stores, the pockets of a rural past. In fact,\nwhen I first came to this part of the state, I immediately felt at home. I\nbefriended a series of old Yankees and reveled in the vernacular of their\nstories, the cadence of my childhood. And the dirt road which funnels me to my\nhome reminds me of the small farm where I grew up in Massachusetts. Who\nwouldn\u2019t want to live in such a verdant haven wrapped in class B rivers and\nstreams (just about as clean as you can get aside from a little giardia here\nand there).  Who wouldn\u2019t want to raise\ntheir children in such a place, where they can roam freely without fear of\nviolence, take a dip in a farm-dug pond, or ride a pony in the State forest for\nhours? On the surface, this place on Earth is pristine and welcoming. If you\nare white.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the hills and valleys of my rural childhood, Northeast Connecticut\nholds onto a hidden past which lays dormant for a while. But then it raises its\nugly head, coming out of dormancy like one of those odiferous flowers which\nblooms only every decade or so. And it stinks. Although I don\u2019t recall overt\nsymbols of racism in my family and the small town I grew up in, I\u2019m sure they were\npresent. Adults were careful not to say things, most of the time. But there\nwere rumors that the Grange Hall had put on more than one minstrel show, in\nblackface \u2013 probably before I was born. And those shows were always written and\ndirected by my beloved surrogate grandmother, Edith Whittier, whose husband\nowned the farm where my parents rented a hired hand\u2019s house. Born in the\n1880\u2019s, they were truly 19th<\/sup> century people with 19th<\/sup>\ncentury sentiments. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Civil Rights movement, we saw terrible things on T.V., and I\nheard terrible things being said by the older folk. Things like \u201cSend them back\nto Africa\u201d as if we were still stuck in a pre-civil war colonization society. There\nwas tension in the air. The people I knew were baffled and harbored resentment,\nas if the advancement of African Americans would somehow push them to the bottom\nof the pile. It was not unlike the reaction many whites have to Black Lives Matter<\/em>, when they retort\nthings like \u201call lives matter\u201d, <\/em>or \u201cblue lives matter\u201d<\/em>, as if they didn\u2019t\nalready. Clearly, they have no sense that we are in this together, bumping up\nagainst the same machine.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We saw and heard about crosses burning and men in white hoods through\nmovies and T.V., but we didn\u2019t see them in our neighborhood. The KKK had made an\nappearance in in many small New England towns in the 1920\u2019s, during one of the ever-present\nAmerica First <\/em>revivals. But then,\npresumably, the robes were packed away in the attic (except in a few notorious\ntowns in Connecticut). And, as usual, Northerners were more than willing to lay\nthe burden of racism at the feet of Southerners. After all, they were the ones\nwho defended slavery to the very end. From Jim Crow to segregation and the\nburning crosses strategically placed on the lawns of those who dared march for\ncivil rights, racism seemed like it was a Southern problem. It just wasn\u2019t\nnoticeable in our own back yards. That is until the confederate flag made its\nappearance after the 2016 elections. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make no mistake. Racism is very well embedded in the cultural, economic\nand institutional structure of the North.  We may not have been flaunting the iconic\nsymbols of hate and terrorism such as burning crosses, but structural racism\nsuch as housing segregation through red-lining, inadequate public schools, and\nfinancial inequities have been entrenched since the industrial revolution.\nRemember, the wealth and power in the North has strong roots in slavery and the\ncotton industry.  Northerners talked a\ngood game when it came to anti-slavery sentiment, but they had no interest in\nhelping to facilitate integration and racial equity. Still it has been\nsurprising and unsettling in the past two years to see the confederate flag\nemerge in our quiet little towns and rural neighborhoods. The teacher in me\nwants to presume that these are good people who simply don\u2019t know the history\nof the confederate flag and how it evolved from a symbol of heritage and\nremembrance (as the Sons of Confederate Veterans would like us to believe),\ninto a symbol of hate, terrorism, and racism. But unlike Donald Trump, I\u2019m not\nwilling to give them a pass for their ignorance.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Robert E. Lee\u2019s soldiers did indeed furl their flags as he\ninstructed them to do, why is it that some folks continue to hold onto this\nrelic of the past and defiantly flaunt it? Although the Sons of Confederate\nVeterans continue to fight for the right to display the confederate flag in\ncertain State Capitols, it has long outlived its place in valor and pride. In\nfact, the current trend toward raising the confederate battle flag didn\u2019t\nemerge until the mid- 20th<\/sup> century. First, it was flown as an act of\ndefiance by Southern Democrats who were not happy with northern counterparts\nwho supported civil rights.  The flag was\nlater adopted by the KKK and other white supremacy groups as a symbol in their\nprotests against the civil rights movement. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are numerous photographs of KKK rallies heralding the confederate\nflag as their banner. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the symbol of \u201cheritage\u201d, its darker side continued to emerge throughout\nthe 21st<\/sup> century. Clearly the banner of a terrorist organization,\nthe confederate flag was unfurled during lynching\u2019s and proudly hung as a\nwarning for others who would dare to vote. Every step forward in the \u201clong arc\ntoward justice\u201d, that old flag has emerged as a symbol of racial hatred.  The KKK weren\u2019t the only groups who adopted\nthe flag as a powerful statement. During the implementation of desegregation,\nthe parents of white students retrieved their confederate flags from grandma\u2019s\nattic, flaunting them with anger while they shouted racial slurs to African\nAmerican children, like Ruby Bridges, who were integrating their schools. I\u2019m\nsure it festered in that unfortunate cesspool of hate so many white Americans\nharbored when Barack Obama was elected. That old flag pops up like a sinister\nJack-in-the-box, after each small victory in the march toward equity and\njustice i.e. affirmative action, fair housing, Black Lives Matter\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s no surprise that the confederate flag has crawled out of the\nwoodwork even in our Quiet Corner of the state. \nAfter all, racists, white supremacists and even the old KKK have been\nemboldened by the current lack of leadership in the White House when it comes\nto calling out groups such as the Neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville. But\nwe would be mistaken to assume that Mr. Trump is completely to blame. In fact,\nhe has done us the favor of naming what we suspected was true: The United States\nof America which holds the torch of freedom, equality and hope for the rest of\nthe world to live up to is roiling with hateful, entitled white men who do not\nwant to give up their privilege. And the banner of their terrifying temper\ntantrums? It appears to be the confederate flag.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northern racism may have lain dormant for a while, but it doesn\u2019t take\nmuch for it to rear its ugly head. All it takes is a wink, a nod and a tweet\nfor that yellow light to turn green. And if you have accidently found yourself\nin the company of those who have joined the crowds of white men who think it\u2019s\ncool, or some God-given Constitutional right to be flaunting the confederate\nflag around town, here is the hard truth you should know: The confederate flag\nis no longer the quaint relic of the Old Dixie South. It has become an identity\nbadge for a defiant populace who just can\u2019t get with the times and accept that\njustice and equity will prevail. If you are flaunting the flag on your\nflagpole, porch, or truck, you might as well put up a big sign that says \u201cYep,\nI\u2019m a racist, and proud of it.\u201d For a century, it has been a symbol that stands\nfor white supremacy, racism and hatred. It is the tool of terrorism.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of you will argue that flying the confederate flag is a\nconstitutional right. But just as we should not tolerate hate speech, we should\nalso not condone the symbols of hate. Germany outlawed the Nazi flag and swastikas,\na painful reminder of the holocaust and the collaborative complicity of\ntolerance. I\u2019m sure that most of us would be uncomfortable if the flag for Isis\nappeared on pick-up trucks and public buildings, and Homeland Security might\neven get a bit ruffled.  Then why should\nwe shake our heads and turn away in that boys\nwill be boys<\/em> condoning manner?  While\nAmericans are distracted by the cultural PTSD inherited after 9-11, the real\nenemy walks among us. Not the Muslims, Central American women and children, or\nthe numerous \u201cothers\u201d <\/em>we\u2019ve been told\nto fear, but our neighbors, our relatives, our friends.  The average white guy next door who doesn\u2019t\nrealize that when he hangs that flag on his porch, he\u2019s aligning himself with a\nlong line of terrorists, white supremacists, racists, and ignorance. Perhaps\nthere are still a few pockets in the South, where little old ladies believe\nthat the confederate flag stands for heritage and remembrance, but let\u2019s face\nit, that flag has been tainted, and we all know what it means. It has an even\nmore sinister meaning when flaunted by Northerners who haven\u2019t the remotest\nhistorical connection to the flag. All I can say is, FURL YOUR FLAGS, BOYS, AND\nPUT YOUR RACISM BACK IN THE CLOSET WHERE IT BELONGS. You don\u2019t get a free pass\non this one.<\/strong>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donna Dufresne             I love the Quiet Corner of Connecticut \u2013 the soft, rolling hills dotted with farms, the little villages accented by white steeples and general stores, the pockets of a rural past. In fact, when I first came to this part of the state, I immediately felt at home. I befriended a series … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “That Old Dixie Flag Revised”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paDBMs-5j","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/donnadufresne.com\/~donnadu1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/donnadufresne.com\/~donnadu1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/donnadufresne.com\/~donnadu1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donnadufresne.com\/~donnadu1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donnadufresne.com\/~donnadu1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/donnadufresne.com\/~donnadu1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":330,"href":"https:\/\/donnadufresne.com\/~donnadu1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329\/revisions\/330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/donnadufresne.com\/~donnadu1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donnadufresne.com\/~donnadu1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donnadufresne.com\/~donnadu1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}