We speak of the Middle Eastern Culture, or the European Culture, the Hispanic Culture, the Asian culture, and each is defined by certain values and norms. Culture is a composite of many things, including but not limited to, food, music, literature, art, religious rites, symbols & rituals, holidays, dress, and language. We think, for example, of Hispanics as wearing bright colours, being primarily Catholic, and cooking with lots of hot peppers and cilantro. So, when we think of Americans (for the purpose of this essay, I define “Americans” as citizens of the United States, understanding that American can also refer to those from Canada, Mexico, South and Central America), what defines our culture?

The United States is a nation of immigrants from all over the globe, therefore it is, perhaps, right and proper that there is no single cultural norm in this country. The Native Americans, of course, had a distinctive and definite culture, but that was overshadowed centuries ago by European immigrants who brought to these shores the cultures of France, Spain, Great Britain, Germany and others. More recently, we have seen waves of immigrants from Asian and Middle Eastern nations, each of whom have contributed to the richness and ambiguity of our culture by adding parts of their own in tandem with adopting parts from other groups in the U.S. So what, then, defines the American culture?

Today, after a tragic, racially-motivated mass murder in South Carolina last week, the big controversy in this nation is whether the confederate flag should be seen as a symbol of racial hatred and banned from government and public areas, or whether it is symbolic of our culture and should be revered and honored as a piece of our national history. Having participated in a number of discussions on this topic, I began to think about the question: what is the “American Culture”? The answer I came up with is that there is no single culture in this nation. Unlike Middle Easterners, who are primarily Muslim, we have no state-supported national religion. Some would argue that this is a “Christian nation”, but I would argue against that, given that the very foundation of our government gives us freedom of religion, to adhere to any or no religion. Our national diet, which some may think of as hamburgers and French fries, is actually an eclectic melting pot of tastes from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and many others. Our music goes beyond definition, at least the music of the last several decades, but prior to that, it was a compilation of the sounds of Britain, Africa, Spain, Germany and others. Our language is a bastardization of the English spoken in Great Britain, spiced in various parts of the nation with regional dialects. And since our nation is a melting pot or a salad bowl, whichever analogy you prefer, this all makes sense and seems perfectly right and proper.

So how does all of this relate to the issue of the confederate flag that faces us today? Well, some southerners claim that it is an important part of their culture as southerners, that it symbolizes “southern pride”. On the other hand, I would argue that, while there are many things about which the south can and should be proud, the confederacy, as represented by the confederate flag, is not one of them. In 1860-1861, after the election of President Abraham Lincoln, 11 southern states “seceded” from the union, declared themselves to no longer be a part of the United States of America. Constitutionally, those states did not have the right to secede and Lincoln refused to acknowledge their secession, but nonetheless they operated as if they were a separate nation, electing their own president and designing their own flag, the flag we know today as the confederate, or rebel flag. These 11 southern states were willing to give up their citizenship in the United States for one main reason, their “right” to “own” slaves, the right to “own” African-Americans who they believed were inferior beings incapable and unworthy of being treated as human beings. I thought, I really wanted to think, that we had all learned in the 150 years since the events leading up to the Civil War, that this was wrong, that in this great nation, “all men (read men AND women) are created equal” and that we all felt great shame from those events. Perhaps I was wearing blinders, seeing the world through rose-coloured glasses, placing undeserved faith in my fellow human beings. Today, many are crying “foul” at the call for a ban on displays of the confederate flag on government and public property. Personally, I think it is a move that is long overdue. Others would argue that such a ban violates their rights to freedom of expression, but to those people I must ask: how would you feel about allowing people to display a swastika on the South Carolina capital grounds?

Since we are already in the throes of the 2016 presidential election, the politicians have all jumped on this bandwagon and are calling for the right thing, but for all the wrong reasons. Many presidential candidates hail from southern states that, in fact, were part of the confederacy. Never before have they called for a ban of the confederate flag, but suddenly they have come to realize that they must be vocal in this issue, be seen as non-racist and eager to appease those of us who are offended by the public display of such a symbol of racism and hatred, so they have jumped on this bandwagon. Fine, I’ll take it. Though I am intelligent enough to realize that this controversy would have gained no momentum if it had come into the limelight in, say, 2002 or even 2012, I am just glad that finally some are seeing this symbol for what it really is, and that is NOT a symbol of national pride.