[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 14, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1059]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. TERRI A. SEWELL

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 13, 2015

  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to address the 
ongoing debate over the Confederate battle flag and its placement on 
state and federal government property. As a daughter of Selma, Alabama, 
I have a great respect and understanding of the deep heritage and 
tradition that every Southerner holds close to their heart. But as an 
American, I find it very troubling that some continue to defend a 
symbol of obvious and demonstrated hatred. From its creation, the flag 
was a denotation of the intention to segregate and enslave African 
Americans.
   While some people genuinely revere the Confederate Battle Flag 
because of its connection to their ancestors, there can be little doubt 
that it is cherished by groups and individuals expressing racial 
hatred. As my colleague and friend John Lewis declared in this Chamber 
last week, the state troopers wore the flag on their helmets as they 
beat him and nearly took his life at the foot of the Edmund Pettus 
Bridge in 1965. It is clear that the flag is overwhelmingly associated 
with some of the darkest sins of our nation's past. The original 
intention of the flag saw resurgence in the 1950s as an expression of 
resistance to the Civil Rights Movement and desegregation. In 1963, 
Governor George Wallace raised the Confederate Battle Flag over the 
Alabama State Capitol as a protest to then U.S. Attorney General Robert 
Kennedy's visit to Alabama to urge desegregation. This very reaction to 
the rise of civil rights for African-Americans proves its symbolism as 
one of racial segregation and not one of heritage.
   But let there be no mistake. The removal of this divisive symbol 
does not cure our society of all discrimination. Hatred stubbornly 
lingers on even after these flags are lowered. Removing flags from 
federally owned property or from a state's capitol grounds is a strong 
step forward, but it is not a final solution to our society's deeply 
entrenched structural oppression. Much more needs to be done to combat 
discrimination in our society and in our public institutions.
   The United States has always been a beacon of progress and equality, 
so it stuns me that we continue to be shackled to these discriminatory 
symbols. The destiny of America is always in the future, not the past. 
We can learn from the past, both good and ill, but it is to the future 
that we must always direct our focus and our ambitions. We must forge a 
path forward, away from the symbols of the darkest times in our 
nation's history. Racism will end when we confront the hate behind the 
heritage with unity and reconciliation.

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