Nation turns back on dark symbols

In our collective attempt to respond in a meaningful way to horrific murders at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, many Americans have been seeking tangible ways to eschew some of the symbols connected with our nation’s darker chapters.

This week, some of the nation’s largest retailers, including Wal-Mart, Amazon, eBay and Sears, announced bans on the sale of Confederate flag merchandise.

For South Carolina, ground zero for the latest reminder that racism still lingers in the hearts of some, confronting that history means removing a Confederate battle flag from the statehouse grounds where it has flown for decades.

On Monday, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said if the state Legislature did not debate the flag matter before it adjourns this week, she will use her authority as executive to call them back into session.

Announcing her decision, Haley acknowledged that for many, the flag still “stands for traditions that are noble. Traditions of history, of heritage and of ancestry.”

For others the flag is deeply offensive.

Haley is right. While individuals are and should be free to display the symbol on their own private property, a symbol that divides Americans should not be sanctioned by the state.

As attorney general, now-Gov. Greg Abbott used a similar argument to deny the Sons of the Confederacy a specialty license plate featuring the battle flag.

At the University of Texas at Austin, the events in South Carolina have renewed debate over a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis on the school’s flagship campus. Students met with the university president earlier this week to express their wish to see the statue, which is seen by many as a symbol of hatred, removed.

But the heightened sensitivity to racial divisiveness caused by use of such symbols is an encouraging sign that, however slowly, we are making progress.

As a nation, we still have a long road to travel, but removing the Confederate flag from license plates, retail shelves and statehouses is a good place to begin.

This story was originally published June 23, 2015 at 6:29 PM with the headline "Nation turns back on dark symbols."