The Confederate Flag Controversy

14 Pages 3438 Words

ow the Confederate flag has been used for a symbol of racism, took place in the early part of the twentieth century. Denmark Groover, the Georgia House of Representatives floor leader, in a defiant stand against integration purposed legislation to add the Southern Cross (named after the cross of St. Andrew, the apostle who was martyred by being crucified on an X-shaped cross) into the state’s flag design. Although Groover claimed that the new flag should be adopted in anticipation of the Confederate Centennial in the 1960s. It was not until forty-five years later that the truth behind Groover’s proposal for the new flag design came to light. Before his death in 2001, Groover openly admitted “Defiance of segregation was the motivating force behind the new flag, not historical sentiment.”
From an ambiguous birth to its modern conflict, the Confederate flag has remained in and of itself a on again off again symbol of racism. Depending on who you talk to, the Confederate flag is either considered a symbol of American heritage or a reflection of a world filled with hate. With arguments about the true meaning of the Confederate flag and increasing pressure from Civil Rights Activist, the former Governor of Georgia, Roy Barnes, on Jan. 30, 2001, signed a bill that replaced the divisive flag with a new one, which was unfurled over the state capital the next day. The new flag featured the Georgia state seal on a blue background and relegated a miniature version of the 1956 flag to the bottom of the flag, under a banner entitled "Georgia's History." In addition to the tiny representation of the 1956 flag were four other flags that played a part of Georgia's history: the 1777 U.S. flag, the pre-1879 Georgia flag, the pre-1956 state flag, and the U.S. flag. As you can imagine this was not the end of the Confederate flag controversy. While Civil Rights activist were happy about the new flag, other supporters of the old flag were fur...