Let's Have a South We Can Share

To the Editors of The Crimson:

I have followed with great interest the controversy regarding the display of Confederate flags on Harvard's campus. After seeing how extensively the issue was covered in thr March 8 edition of The Crimson, as well as reading artticles in otherlocal publications such as The Independent and The Boston Globe, I decided that it was time to present my point of view, from a slightly different perspective.

In case anyone should care to know, I am an African-American. However, I am presenting my view not as a member of a specific ethnic group, but as a native Southerner. Through the forum of The Crimson I hope to speak to the entire Harvard community, but I am especially directing my comments to fellow Southerner Bridget L. Kerrigan '91.

In reference to the other individual--who I have been informed is from Maine--I will only say that an incredible amount of damage has been done to the South, beginning with the carpetbaggers, because of Northerners who felt they understood Southern culture better than we did.

Ms. Kerrigan has a right to be proud of her Southern heritage. And I believe she has a right to show it. What angers me is that she has chosen to display her pride in a manner that I as a fellow Southerner cannot comfortably share.

With the exception of the time that I have spent studying at Harvard, I have lived in New Orleans for my entire life. I am proud of Louisiana--and anyone who has heard anything about our state's economy, education system and politics knows that being proud of Louisiana isn't easy. But it has been my home, and whether I return there or not after Harvard, it will always be my home.

The South, with its culture and all of its emblems, is just as much a part of my life as it must be for Ms. Kerrigan. A statue of general Lee is one of the most prominent landmarks in New Orleans--and I point it out for tourists and visitors just as proudly as I point out the spots where musicians like Louis Armstrong first introduced jazz to the world.

However, no one should forget that the cause Lee fought for was an illegal, immoral cause. Culture aside, the flag that his troops followed into battle represents a very shameful period of our nation's history.

The aftermath of the Civil War was a painful time for both Black and white residents in the South. Northern politicians eagerly used all of the resources they had at their disposal to punish and humiliate the losers. They ignored the fact that most of the vanquished Southern people were not rich plantation owners and secessionist politicians. Many were poor but proud farmers who worked the land, just as generations of slaves had done since before the founding of Harvard.

The economic rape of the South perpetrated by the carpetbaggers hurt Blacks as well as whites. By not using the economic influence they brought with them to forge a just peace and an equitable enfranchisement of all Southern citizens (including women, Ms. Kerrigan), they ensured that the bitterness which festered throughout the occupation would erupt once they and the federal troops left. Over 125 years later, that bitterness seems to persist, rearing its ugly head not only in the South, but in places all over the country--like Los Angeles, for instance.

I applaud Ms. Kerrigan for celebrating the South while being surrounded in Yankee culture. But which South is she celebrating? Is it hers, or mine--or ours? Is it the South of Jefferson Davis, Nathan Bedford Forest, Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee? Or is it the South of David Duke, Bull Connor and Jesse Helms?

Would it not be better to find an emblem that celebrates a South that people of all colors and backgrounds can br proud of? One that symbolizes not pain of the past but a vision of a better life for all Southerners? The Louisiana of Lindy Boggs and Dutch Morial? The Texas of Ann Richards? The Arkansas of Bill Clinton? The Florida of Claude Pepper? The Virginia of Douglas Wilder?

Emblems, like flags, are powerful in their symbolism. In the afterglow of Desert Storm, yellow ribbons and flags are everywhere. But flags can sometimes inadvertently evoke hurtful images. I still remember how in 1976, my parents expressed fears about coming to my Harvard commencement because of the images they had seen in home papers of a Black man being assaulted by three white youths on the steps of Boston City Hall with an American flag. My father, who was injured in Korea while serving for that flag, ultimately chose not to come.

I would ask everyone who desires to show the Stars and Bars in the name of Southern pride to consider the implications. It's not just your South--it's mine, too. We should advertise its glory in ways that all Southerners can enjoy and all Americans can appreciate. Peter Ivan Armstrong III '76