Monday, March 7, 2011

Heritage vs Hate


I must admit that the sight of the Confederate Flag signals danger to my mind. I vividly remember a softball trip to Hilton Head SC. Upon our arrival on the bus there was a local parade where many of the participants were proudly waving Confederate Flags which shook the few Black people on the bus. As our team mates looked in awe at the fact that people would openly wave such flags, I took a moment to look around and noticed that every Black person that was there seemed to hunch down in their seats a bit as if to go unnoticed by what could have been a dangerous situation. To this day, I have no idea what kind of parade that was in Hilton Head, but I will never forget that moment for the rest of my life. If at this point in our American History that flag can shake an immense level of fear in my heart, I can only imagine the level of fear it struck for my ancestors.

There has been controversy recently over the fact that Kid Rock the Detriot NAACP has chosen to honor Kid Rock. Kid rock is known to proudly wave a Confederate Flag around at his shows. He is also known to be a proud supporter of equality, and has done a lot to build bridges between people who may not otherwise have come together. While I do not believe that Kid Rock is in any way racist, it is difficult for me to set aside my personal feelings with the Confederate Flag with his personal sentiments about the flag. I appreciate the work that he does to honor many African-Americans, and I accept the fact that we live in a country where he has the right to wave that Flag and hold different attachment to it than I do.

American history is extremely complex. History seen through the eyes of different people reflects very different stories, and I believe all of those stories are relevant. There are many people black, white, and otherwise who do not associate the Confederate flag with racism. There is a distinct and unique history that the South holds that is immensely diverse and different than that of the North that should be acknowledge, recorded, and celebrated. Not everything that has come from the South should be associated with racism. Although I do not understand the need to celebrate this history with a flag that was used to strike fear and represent hate, I have also accepted the fact that I am not capable of understanding everything and everyone.

What I do understand is that an organization that has been at the forefront of civil rights has chosen to acknowledge someone who bears the very symbol that they had been fighting for years. I understand the hurt, I understand the dilemma, I understand the pain, but I do not think that what Kid Rock stands for should be overlooked. There are plenty of things that we could say about past nominees that do not coincide with what the organization stands for that I believe should be amended. I hope that we all pay attention to those who do not live their lives as proper examples as much as we have chosen to pay attention to Kid Rock.  It is cliche to say that nothing in life is Black and White, but it holds so much truth. Sometimes we have to take the time to accept that part of heritage is hate.

Hear his feelings about the flag around the 1:00 min mark



Kid Rock from Joe Keenan on Vimeo.


No comments:

Post a Comment