Are you sure?
One of the more common things I see and hear from people who are defending the display of the Confederate battle flag is “My ancestors didn’t own slaves.” Putting aside for a moment that this isn’t really a very good defense of a symbol that has stood for hatred and terror for the better part of 150 years, the main thing I want to ask the people who say that is, are you sure? I mean really, are you sure? Thanks to a lot of research that was done by my great-grandmother, grandmother, and other members of that side of my family, I have a pretty good idea of the history of the branch of my family tree. I’ve spent some time looking for more details about that history, and every so often I’ll take another look to see if any new information or records have moved online. A couple of weeks ago I was doing just that, looking for a more complete family tree. I have to take a moment here to acknowledge that I am able to have that understanding in large part because of the privilege that comes...