In the politically correct rush to eliminate Confederate flags, let us hope that some will be saved. Slavery and the Civil War did happen, and it is important to keep symbols of the past, no matter how dark, bloody and distasteful.
Happy history is no longer the only history we record. Increasingly, historians and history museums are exploring darker events. History Colorado, for instance, at its Museum at 1200 Broadway in Denver, has an extensive exhibit on Amache, a tiny town in the southeast corner of Colorado. There, the U.S. government incarcerated over 8,000 Japanese, most of them U.S. citizens, during World War II.
That this was wrong and illegal was later acknowledged by President Ronald Reagan, who authorized reparations to survivors and their descendants. For a long time, Amache was forgotten as an inconvenient truth that our government can do wrong. Recently, the National Park Service designated Amache as a National Historic Landmark, the highest federal designation for historic sites. The Park Service has also helped restore guard and water towers there, cooperating with the nearby town of Granada to memorialize Amache and make it a heritage tourism attraction.
Despite criticism from fans of happy history, exhibits at History Colorado also acknowledge mistreatment of natives, Hispanics and African-Americans. This is done in the hope that past prejudices might be dropped and fairer treatment awarded all people.
Terrible, racist murders took place at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston., S.C., on June 17. Republican Gov. Nikki Haley courageously and appropriately pushed through the removal of Confederate flags from prominent places at state buildings, culminating in the removal of the flag at the South Carolina capitol on Friday.
But Americans still have freedom of speech — and freedom to fly any flag they fancy.
Surely there is a place for Confederate flags, at least in museums. Hundreds of thousands of people pledged allegiance to that flag, and many died for it. Should they and the banner they fought under be obliterated from our national historical consciousness?
In Denver, a well-intentioned legislator suggested removing Sand Creek from the bronze plaque under the soldier statue on the west side of the State Capitol. It lists Sand Creek as one of the battles fought by Colorado soldiers. The lawmaker pointed out that Sand Creek was not a battle but a massacre of some 170 peaceful Arapaho and Cheyenne, mostly women and children, on their own reservation.
Fortunately, History Colorado had the good sense to discuss this issue with descendants of Sand Creek survivors. No, those Indians said, don’t erase Sand Creek. They wanted everyone to remember what happened there. So the offensive “battle” remains to this day on the plaque. The exemplary resolution: Have American Indians install a plaque giving their version of what happened at Sand Creek. This should be a model for many communities.
Some wanted to change the name of the Stapleton neighborhood because it honored Mayor Benjamin Franklin Stapleton, a one-time Ku Klux Klan member. It is often forgotten that he later left the Klan and denounced it eloquently: “True Americanism does not hide under a sheet.” Stapleton’s name remains as a reminder of Colorado’s mid-1920s Ku Klux Klan nightmare.
Confederate flags may remind many of the worst of Southern antebellum society, but they represent more than the racism with which they are now associated. Take them off major public buildings where they offend, but save some as a reminder of the most important event in U.S. history.
If every generation is allowed to destroy symbols, statues and landmarks of preceding generations, history becomes very short-sighted.
Historian Tom Noel welcomes your comments at .
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