Mary Lindsley

With February being African-American History Month, it's a good time to consider an issue that started in South Carolina but has now become a nationwide topic of debate: should the Confederate flag be flown along with the American flag over the South Carolina state capitol?

You would think the answer to this question would be a no-brainer; after all, who would want to lay claim to something that has been unofficially adopted as a symbol by the Ku Klux Klan? Why would anyone want to proudly associate themselves with something that to many represents the era of slavery, one of the darkest and most shameful periods of American history?

Even though this seems like it ought to be an easy decision for the South Carolina legislature, it hasn't been. Despite a recent compromise proposal offered by the NAACP (which is currently boycotting the state) to display the flag in the capitol's Confederate Relic Room with pro- and anti-flag inscriptions, the debate over what to do still rages on as fiercely as ever.

The uproar over the flag is rooted in the heritage of South Carolina. Proponents of the flag say it should be flown to honor Confederate soldiers who died during the Civil War. The loss of 20,000 South Carolinians in the war is a wound that still runs deep for residents of the state 130 years after the war ended. Opponents of flying the flag argue that it's a symbol of slavery, and therefore shouldn't serve as a badge of honor for the state. In this case, one man's heritage is another man's horror.

Honoring war veterans is certainly an honorable cause, but it's hard to honor a soldier without also honoring the cause that a soldier fought for. The chasm that exists between people of different races today has its origins in the notion that a human being can be considered property. This is an idea that no state, which has the responsibility of serving all of its citizens, should pay tribute to (even if the tribute is unintentional). If the legislature of South Carolina wants to pay its respects to Confederate veterans, it must also remember that it will simultaneously glorify a severe violation of human rights. It will also be honoring a war that John Monk, associate editor of the Columbia, S.C. newspaper The State said "[destroyed the state's] economy, culture and youth."

The NAACP's proposal makes sense. While the flag should not be exalted, it also should not be forgotten. Many have heard the saying by philosopher George Santayana that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." The flag serves as an important, albeit painful, reminder of a mentality that needs to go the way of the cotton gin and the steamboat into extinction.

Part of the purpose of setting aside February as African-American History Month is to reflect on the struggles of the past and to let them serve as an impetus for future action. We can only hope the South Carolina state legislature bears this in mind when they finally make a decision on this issue, one which ultimately has ramifications for us all.