Date: 2015-07-13
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today with my colleagues of the Congressional Black Caucus. to discuss tonights CBC Special Order Hour: "The Confederate Battle Flag: Why Symbols Matter." I stand here today fully acknowledging that the eradication of this hurtful flag from state and federal grounds is only one step in fully addressing race relations in this country. but. just as so many of my CBC colleagues have stood on this very floor to exclaim that "Black Lives Matter." so too do symbols. Symbols of hatred. institutionalized racism and white supremacy. they matter. Symbols like the flags of Apartheid South Africa and Rhodesia. embraced by Dylann Roof. the terrorist responsible for the unspeakable events at Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston last month. Mr. Speaker. they matter. Last week. the South Carolina legislature voted overwhelmingly in favor of removingonce and for allthe confederate battle flag from their Capitol grounds. I applaud the state of South Carolina for this historic gesture and for the outstanding leadership necessary to ensure that this flag comes down in the aftermath of the "Emmanuel Nine" tragedy. I implore other southern states that still fly the battle flag on state grounds to follow suit and have the flag removed. As a Member of Congress. I pledge my support to any legislation that completely eradicates this symbol from all federal lands. To understand why the confederate battle flag has been offensive to millions of Americans for so many years requires a proper framing of American History. The version of the confederate battle flag that most people are familiar with today was first used by the Army of Tennessee during the Civil War. Shortly thereafter. it became widely known as the symbol of the Confederacyeleven states who wished to secede from the Union over the right to own slaves. For the many Americans who deny a basic historical fact by refusing to believe that slavery was a central point of conflict in the Civil War. I quote directly from the declaration of secession from my home state of Texas: "We hold as undeniable truths that the governments of the various States. and of the confederacy itself were established exclusively by the white race. for themselves and their posterity. that the African race had no agency in their establishment. that they were rightfully held and regarded as an inferior and dependent race. and in that condition only could their existence in this country be rendered beneficial or tolerable." Similarly. overt references to slavery as a motivation to secede from the Union are also present in the declarations of secession of South Carolina. Georgia and Mississippi. Repeatedly. throughout the 20th century. the confederate battle flag flew as a symbol of direct defiance to advancements in civil rights. The flag was first displayed at the South Carolina state Capitol in 1938 after angry Members of Congress defeated a bill that would have made lynching a federal crime. In the 1940s. the flag became the symbol of the Dixiecrats. the segregationist political faction birthed out of its firm stance against the civil rights agenda of the national Democratic party of the time. Members of the Dixiecrats were faithfully devoted to maintaining the segregation of the Jim Crow South. many of whom stood on this very House floor decades ago. extolling the virtues of an American society that subjugated its black citizens. In 1962. the flag was raised to the dome of the South Carolina state Capitol after President Kennedy called on Congress to end poll taxes and literacy tests for voting. and the Supreme Court declared segregation in public transportation unconstitutional. The raising of the confederate battle flag flew as a symbol of resistance in South Carolina to two landmark achievements of progress that our country relied on to move forward in its quest for racial equality. While the confederate battle flag may represent "Southern Heritage" to some. to millions of other Americans it represents an opposition to the racial equality we still fight for today. This flag is a symbol of the painful history that this country has worked hard to overcome. and in order to continue moving forward. it is a symbol that we must finally put behind us.