The South Carolina House of Representatives recently voted to take down the Confederate flag. Those opposed to the flag argue there is no way to divorce the message of hate and injustice from the starry, blue "X" on a bright red background. Flag supporters argue that the flag is not about "hate" but "heritage." I would argue that there is a Southern heritage that is greater than the Civil War flag can ever hope to represent. We're going to see a piece of that heritage expressed on Tuesday, July 14, when Harper Lee's new-old novel finally appears in bookstores.
Harper Lee, you'll remember, is the author of "To Kill a Mockingbird," the novel about an African-American man accused of raping a white woman -- and the lawyer who defends him, to the consternation of his neighbors. Before she wrote "To Kill a Mockingbird," Lee wrote "Go Set a Watchman," which is inhabited by many of the same characters as the now-familiar masterpiece -- but which takes place 20 years later. "Watchman" sat in a desk for decades until now.
I like the fact that the Confederate flag is coming down just as Harper Lee's novel is rising up. Harper Lee's flag is the flag of the literate South. It is a heritage that is bold, thoughtful, anti-racist and smart. It is the unromantic South of William Faulkner, of Zora Neale Hurston, and Flannery O'Connor.
I remember the redemptive value "To Kill a Mockingbird" had for me, growing up as I did in the South. It gave voice to an alternative to the racism that was woven so tightly in our culture. Although my family never expressed overt racism, I saw racism all around me when I grew up in Florida. I saw segregated restrooms and schools -- and I saw the disdain and fear whites expressed toward the move to rid ourselves of Jim Crow. Without "To Kill a Mockingbird," I'm afraid that's all I would have seen. I wouldn't have had an anti-racist model to challenge the old.
Without a rich, literate culture, we can't hope to resist the tendency toward racial isolation and hate. We need art to counter the inertia of individual and mob hatred, the kind of hatred that led to the multiple killings in an African-American church last month, or, perhaps, the burning of so many churches in the past weeks.
There's a Southern alternative to the Confederate flag that we can celebrate. It's the still, small voice of the smart South, the impulse to resist the corruption of racism, slavery, injustice. This is the heritage I'm willing to celebrate and extend.
I can't wait to see what "Go Set a Watchman" has to offer. I expect it to offer a better sense of heritage than any Civil War relic could.
David Cheezem is the co-owner of Fireside Books in downtown Palmer.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com