The Confederate battle flag came down in South
Carolina. I was moved. I assume most of the South was, if not the entire
nation. I wrote a long form essay on this that I have submitted elsewhere and
am awaiting word back on. Still, I don’t know if people outside the South
realize how much that flag and Southern iconography is not just part of the
Southern landscape but of Southern consciousness. Often viewed as the nation’s
tumor in polls and data about poverty, low education, and obesity, the region
has carved itself in the image of strange and oppressive gods. This has been
both a blessing and a curse. The Drive-by Truckers often sing about this duality, its pride and its shame.