Thoughts on the confederate flag at Lighthouse Beach
What happened to the liberal diversity embracing white Evanstonians on the beach that day?
This speaks to what is often ignored as an aspect of white privilege, it is the unconscious need to protect it as INDIVIDUALS. You see, there is a deep-seated fear that speaking out about racism, or in this case a symbol of racism individually, which it is important to hear that distinction, may jeopardize the privileges afford to them as a white person.
We joke about losing our “Black Card” but image what it would happen if white people start losing their “white cards” look at all the access they would lose if they could no longer be identified as being white.
The same white folks that left the beach that day, I guess a few called 311 to report it, drove home, parked in their driveway and walked past a BLM sign prominently displayed in their front yard.
These are the same white folks who marched with thousands in the streets of Evanston a few months ago as a show of support for the movement… there is both safety and anonymity in numbers.
I like to use sports analogies whenever trying to explain events and life lessons, probably because of the years I spent as a football player and then coach for many years. So, suppose you have a favorite football team, mine is the KC Chiefs, you root for them, wear the jerseys and some fanatics despise their opponents. We can dissect what happened when they lose and celebrate wildly when they win. Now put that in the context of the people who support the confederacy. They proudly display the banner (flag) of their team, it’s part of their heritage…the problem with these people is in the ONLY game (civil war) their team played in they lost!
Cubs fans waited 108 years for another championship (50 for me as a Chiefs fan). Are supporters of the confederacy, whose number one goal was to keep slavery, waiting for another shot at the title?
And another question we need to ponder is this; what would those white people on the beach that day really do if the confederacy rose again? Where would their BLM signs go then?
