Confederate Battle Flag Symbolism

Floor Speech

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, had this Confederate battle flag prevailed in war 150 years ago, I would not be standing here today as a Member of the United States Congress. I would be here as a slave. Over the last 150 years, we have made tremendous progress in this country, but we still have a long way to go.

As the tragic events in Charleston, South Carolina, illustrated, when nine God-fearing, churchgoing African American citizens were killed by a White supremacist, there is much work that needs to be done to eradicate the cancer of racial hatred.

When Dylann Roof committed this act of domestic terror, his emblem was the Confederate battle flag.

Later on today we are going to have a vote on the legitimacy of this flag. On Tuesday, it appeared that House Republicans were prepared to do the right thing in support of three amendments to prohibit the use of Federal funds for the purchase, sale, or display of the Confederate battle flag on National Park Service land.

But less than 24 hours later, House Republicans reversed course in the dead of night under cover of darkness to introduce an amendment supporting the Confederate battle flag, which is nothing more than a symbol of racial hatred and oppression.

There are some in this House who have made the argument that the Confederate battle flag is about heritage and tradition. I am perplexed.

What exactly is the tradition of the Confederate battle flag that we are supporting? Is it slavery? Rape? Kidnap? Treason? Genocide? Or all of the above.

The Confederate battle flag is nothing more than a symbol of racial hatred and oppression. And I stand here with chills next to it because the red in this flag is a painful reminder of the blood that was shed by Africans who were killed when attempted to be kidnapped and thrown into the institution of slavery.

The red on this flag is a painful reminder of the blood that was shed by millions of Africans who died during the Middle Passage when being transported from Africa to America.

The red on this flag is a painful reminder of the blood that was shed by African American slaves who were beaten, raped, lynched, and killed here in America as a result of the institution of slavery.

What exactly is the tradition the Confederate battle flag represents?

We were sent here as leaders to make decisions on the morality of America. And where we are, notwithstanding our painful history and the legacy of slavery, we have an opportunity today to make a definitive statement to be leaders, not individuals who cower in fear of some narrow-minded Americans who aren't aware that the South lost the war 150 years ago.

Let's choose racial progress over racial poison. Let's choose harmony over historic amnesia. Let's choose togetherness over treason. Let's come together not as Democrats or Republicans, not as Whites or Blacks, not as northerners or southerners.

Let's come together as Americans and vote down the Calvert amendment and relegate the Confederate battle flag to the dustbin of history, which is where it belongs.

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