Banner Headlines: The Fight over Confederate Flags in the American South

Abstract

As the 21st century begins, the Confederate battle emblem, a symbol more commonly associated with the 19th century, continues to divide the population of the American South, primarily along racial lines. During the past decade, strident debates over the public display of the Confederate battle emblem by state and local governments have been waged across the region. While some have dismissed these debates as inconsequential to the daily lives of the South’s population, their frequency and vitriolic character suggests otherwise. Geographers have been actively analyzing the underlying causes and ferocity of these debates using a variety of geographic concepts (e.g., Webster and Webster 1994; Leib 1995; Leib, Webster, and Webster 2000; Webster and Leib 2001; 2002; Leib and Webster 2002). In this essay, we demonstrate how the geographical concepts of public space and landscape representation can be used to better understand the dynamics of these controversies.