Three Flags Over My Heart

The Fourth of July is a day specifically reserved for flag waving, wrapping ourselves in the glory and elation that comes with being the members of the world’s greatest nation, the United States of America. It’s a day we set aside to cherish the freedoms paid for by the sacrifice of generations of soldiers woven into the blood red stripes of Old Glory.

The Star Spangled Banner is more than just the song that starts the baseball games so near to my heart. Old Glory is the symbol of our nation, a fluttering cloth beacon to Democracy recognized around the world that can bring tears to my eyes if I focus on the flag’s full impact. Old Glory is also the Battle Flag of the Union in the Civil War.

I have struggled personally with the horror that struck the lovely city my wife and I had just visited a month before. The idea someone could enter a church during Bible Study and open fire on innocent people is beyond comprehension. This is the very definition of a hate crime and I find myself trying with facts that can’t be digested.

The fact the families of the slaughtered somehow have found the power of forgiveness for the monster who took their loved ones is incomprehensible to me even as I marvel at their faith. The fact Charleston has not erupted into violence like Baltimore and Ferguson did for much less acts of evil is a blessing and tribute to the strong moral fiber of that city.

I wasn’t surprised the usual national debate broke out about gun control. Anytime there is a mass gun tragedy, and there are too many, the call goes up for stricter gun control. My opinion is guns should be registered but a person has a bill of rights guarantee to have a handgun or gun for hunting. If a person needs a machine gun to hunt then maybe we need to regulate poor aim.

What surprised me was the debate that broke out over the Confederate Battle Flag, which still flies for some reason over the state house in Columbia, SC. The reason given is heritage, not hate. I think a bit of obstinance is mixed in with the heritage. After all, the South Carolina blue bloods who created wonderful Charleston also fired on Fort Sumter to start the Civil War.

Heritage not hate. I encountered that phrase often in my Facebook feed though I didn’t comment or like any of the posts because I wasn’t sure how I felt. I didn’t have experience with the phrase and was afraid it might be a tongue in cheek slight.

The Stars and Bars occupies the third rung on the flagpole of my heart. The Texas Flag is 1a behind Old Glory’s Number 1. The Stars and Bars flutters because of the service of my great grandfather, Samuel Cecil Witten. I’m not sure why Samuel C. volunteered but I don’t think it had anything to do with slavery as he didn’t own any. His family was from Tazewell, Va., where Witten Fort had protected settlers from Indians since Revolutionary times. Sam was born in Missouri though, possibly because his father had married a Cherokee Indian, Isophrenia Godancing McKenzie. Samuel migrated near Rising Star, Texas before the war and joined what he thought was a Texas Cavalry regiment. He likely joined because he still identified himself as a Virginian by birth and his home state was under attack. Many Southerners refer to the Civil War as the War of Northern Aggression.

Somewhere in Tennessee, his regiment had their horses taken away and they became Texas Dismounted Calvary. I’m not sure about the wisdom of taking horses away from a bunch of Texans, but I’m sure that contributed to the loss of the war. Samuel Cecil survived battles at Shy’s Hill here in Nashville and Stones River in Murfreesboro. I’m not sure about the Battle of Franklin but I believe his unit was there also. At the end of the war, Samuel was turned loose deep in the south with just a bag of rice to get home. Family legend maintains after he married in 1866 he never allowed rice on his table after getting home to Texas. I never eat rice without thinking of him.

Samuel was a great admirer of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston from Texas. He probably was of the opinion if Sidney Johnston hadn’t been killed at Shiloh his horse would never have been taken away. Whatever the reason, my grandfather carried the general’s entire name when he was born in 1874, Albert Sidney Johnston Witten. I’ve got two cousin Sidneys and one cousin Albert but no Cousin Johnston or General.

So for me, the Stars and Bars represents only Heritage. I have only one personal item with the Battle Flag on it, a T-Shirt we got when we visited Gettysburg a couple years ago. We stayed at General Lee’s headquarters and got a t-shirt with the emblem titled, “Lee’s Retreat”. I’m not sure where it today but I won’t be searching in an atmosphere where Bubba Watson is painting the roof of the original General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard. I just know for our Nation’s Birthday I’ll be wearing something decorated by Old Glory.

The Confederate Battle Flag seems to be in full retreat not only because a disturbed, misguided mass murderer wrapped his hate in it. But Dylann Roof didn’t invent the metamorphosis, he was just a product dating back to reconstruction. The heritage component of the Confederate flag has been hijacked by the hate mongers. Germany has outlawed the Nazi Swastika so the racist Skinheads use the Confederate Battle Flag as a symbol. It saddens a part of me, but I don't want to be identified or even mistaken for one who supports White Supremecy.

With all the rhetoric available in the media, both news and social, the most illuminating take for me came on 3HL, the sports talk show on 104.5 I listen to sometimes. They were discussing the Battle Flag controversy and one of the regular callers, Hosey (I’m spelling as it sounds), an articulate black man who calls often, tried to explain his feeling in seeing the symbol.

Hosey said the flag was for intimidation, pure and simple. Every black man knows what that symbol really stands for where they are concerned. Surprisingly, Hosey said it was okay for people to wear their flag, it helped him identify them and keep tabs. The ones he worries about are those racists who wear no identifying markings.

The amendment I believe in most strongly is the first that guarantees everyone free speech. I remember the controversies in the late ’60s when students decorated clothing with pieces of the flag and even burned Old Glory in protest. The Supreme Court upheld even this latter act, which I consider desecration, but I understand the ruling nonetheless. If everyone has free speech as one of our basic freedoms, I accept this means some pretty nasty people get to speak some bad stuff and even do some puzzling things. I just don't support them doing monstrously horrible things.

Since God gives us Free Will and the Constitution gives us Free Speech, my recommendation is stop all the rhetoric and let everyone make their own choice. One is free to wear the Confederate Battle Flag, they just have to be prepared to be perceived on first impression by Hosey and others as a racist.

In my view, the object of controversy is a Battle Flag and we’re not at war. At least I’m not though people like Dylann Roof may misguidedly perceive themselves in a conflict of epic proportions. On my planet, I can honor my great grandfather with my heart and memory and put the Stars and Bars in the museum and history book where it belongs.

In all this discussion about a flag that hasn’t flown for its true purpose in 150 years obscures the abomination about a mass murder happening in God’s House. News reports say Roof actually attended the prayer meeting and almost backed out of his plan because everyone was so nice. I suspect Roof didn’t have the Confederate Battle Flag showing anywhere but I wonder what had happened if he had? How would the black prayer group have reacted? Would they have been on their guard like Hosey?

What would Jesus do? He would have reached his arms out to Dylann Roof. As Christians the prayer group was charged to do the same and according to Roof himself that’s just what the victims did. Jesus teaches forgiveness even to the Dylann Roofs of the world. In the aftermath of the horror, forgiveness is just what the survivors of the victims gave to Dylann Roof.

In the grand scheme, the cross overshadows any flag. Jesus trumps Hate and that’s truly a Heritage to celebrate.