BandAids on Bullet Holes

Prof. Margaret Drew introduces UMass Law 3L Michael McGeown-Walker who wrote the following post, a version of which earlier appeared in the Albany Times Union.

Earlier this summer, the state of South Carolina removed the Confederate battle flag from the Confederate Soldier Monument near the state’s Capitol building entrance. The flag had been there since 2000, and before that, it waved atop the capitol building since 1961. Remarking on its removal to South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, the curator suggested that the action was a “gesture of chivalry” to hopefully bring some level of healing to the state after the abhorrent killing of nine African ­Americans at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. The operative word in that quote is “gesture.” While there is a measure of understanding in removing a flag from the grounds of the state Capitol, the action is largely symbolic. And that is what flags are: symbols. In this case, the Confederate flag became a symbol of an attitude of hatred. After that terrible event, many called for removal of the flag as a public response by the state. The gesture of removing the flag from the vicinity of the state’s Capitol building was like putting a Band­Aid on a bullet wound: it may look alright for a moment, but Band­Aids don’t heal wounds. What removing the flag does is make us feel better. Like electing a black president or ousting a racist owner of a basketball team, it makes us feel as though we are doing something to solve the problem,  all the while  sweeping the real problems under the rug. Racism is complex. It persists in so many forms. Men with white hoods have been replaced by mass incarceration, wars on the impoverished, and a vitriolic, knee­jerk response to intelligence and education. Symbolic gestures, such as removing a flag, are only as useful in their ability to spur on movements that address racism in a comprehensive manner. If the removal of the Confederate flag from the Capitol grounds in South Carolina ignites action on issues such as mass incarceration, poverty and education, then perhaps this gesture will stand for something far greater. But until that time, it is nothing more than an underwhelming response to an overwhelming problem.