No, banning the flag solves nothing. It only serves to lull us into believing that we have “Done something important.” Banning the flag reifies the legitimacy of its symbolic power. The flag does have power, but only if we allow it to have such sway. A clear and unabashed analysis of the flag is the only way in which we can hope to nullify its power. We expunge it at our own risk. Much like martyrs inspire more powerfully their causes than they ever could while alive, so too will the Confederate flag if it is removed from the public square. We will have merely facilitated the nightmarish transformation of the flag: from visible abomination to invisible abomination.”
