Abstract
Southern symbols, particularly the Confederate flag, have grown very controversial since the end of the Civil war. Indeed, the Confederate flag has been associated with numerous racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, or with racist acts, such as the lynching of black people since the Reconstruction. Today, many Americans, especially those who are not from the South, are shocked when they see the Confederate flag's pattern fly over the Mississippi state capitol. They see it as a symbol of hatred, and deep-rooted racism. However, in the South, the flag represents the heritage, the pride, and the honor of those who died, defending their family and lands. It would be misleading to judge the flag only by considering the use that some groups, however numerous and visible, made of it, because we would fail to understand the vivid controversy. If we are to understand why people today defend the battle flag and why they resent the categorical denunciation of it as a symbol of slavery and racism, we must be able to understand how a flag so closely associated with the defense of slavery could also be, for many people past and present, a symbol of liberty, courage, heritage and commitment (Coski 27.
