Emily Nguyen, Week #6: Candy Canes…& Confederacy?
November 1st marks Christmas time. It's practically already winter: “Snow is falling as the carolers sing.” I don’t have time for Thanksgiving; make way for Christmas! In my holly jolly Christmas mood, I got to thinking about Santa hats, festive string lights, singing out to a cold night sky, and of course, Christmas treats—candy canes in particular.
I relished the thought of those minty, red-and-white spiraled stripes. And then I remembered I had a blog to write, about America. The American flag also has red and white stripes…so I thought a bit more about this tangent and wondered, why roll with this design choice? Thinking about Christmas turned into candy canes, then the national flag, and now Betsy Ross, as she was allegedly the one to create the first American flag. So naturally, still having to write a coherent blog, I did a bit of researching.
Nike was controversial at some point in 2019 due to repping Betsy Ross’s original flag design in one of their new Air Max ads. Digging deeper revealed that some communities (and namely Colin Kaepernick) were uncomfortable with Betsy Ross’s flag in public marketing as it was viewed as a symbol of racism. An article agreeing with this view brought up how the era of America’s thirteen colonies constituted a time of enslavement and that certain extremists today use the flag interchangeably with the Confederate flag. Essentially, this article attributed the flag’s meaning to the period in which it originated, with the flag symbolizing the values of that time and, more recently, being adopted as white supremacist propaganda.
This article was troubling to me. I had no idea of such meaning behind the flag, and I felt ashamed—yet a bit skeptical of groups interpreting the keystone flag this way. For some people “waving Betsy Ross’s flag higher” today, it never symbolized oppression; the flag represents the unification of America’s landmark colonies and the freedom of the colonists. Betsy Ross (supposedly) designed her flag at the request of the men from the Continental Congress—including George Washington—who sought to create a hallmark of America. I believe that the original intent behind the flag gives it its true meaning, contrary to solely basing one’s interpretation of the flag on the historical context of it.
While you can’t disregard this period of racial injustice in American history, you shouldn’t force racial implications onto symbols simply born from the patriotic spirit in founding this country. This goes for both using them to symbolize supporting historical oppression and the disapprobation of them as representing oppression.
HUGE candy cane. I love the candy cane making process and I love this dude who makes them with pride.
Emily, I want to start by saying I love the start of your blog, and I couldn't agree more. I love Christmas vibes and although my family doesn't celebrate, it is my favorite time of the year. I also enjoyed the Kelly Clarkson reference, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't read it in her voice. I also think it's funny because before deciding what I'd write my blog about, I was dreaming about how nice a double-double and fries would be. This blog was extremely entertaining to read but I also feel like I learned a lot. I had no idea about the controversy you mentioned regarding Nike. I also love the fact Colin Kaepernick (go Niners) was mentioned because this is something I have heard and read about in the past, and am happy to see it brought up again. I never knew "Betsy Ross’s flag" was seen as a "symbol of racism" and it's kind of interesting to see the reason why, because if it wasn't given or urged out of me, I don't think I would have made this thought or connection. After rereading your blog (a couple times) and your final paragraph (like 5 times), I agree with you; I specifically agree with the not forcing "racial implications" while still not "disregarding" the "racial injustice" during that time period. I feel like the flag should be seen for what it was intended to be.
ReplyDeleteAlso on like a side note, I feel like your vocab in general is so like "good". It's not like insanely niche where I have to go to Google to understand what you're saying but it's like I wouldn't be able to use a substantial amount of the words you do in my own writing. It's like when you see a word that you know what it means but not enough to use in application. Okay that's all. That was really informational and entertaining. Thanks, and I cannot wait to see what you share next week!
Emily, I loved the transition from candy canes to the American flag. I would never have connected the two so I loved to see the way you transitioned into the topic of the flag. Speaking of the flag I am also ashamed to say that I have never really given the history of it that much thought. I have always just taken it as the thing we had to pledge our allegiance to every Monday morning. To think that it is a symbol of racism and the values of the time is shocking. I have to agree with your point of the flag now representing unity as we shouldn't view an object’s symbol as representing only the values of the time it was created but the feelings it instills in one’s mind.
ReplyDeleteAre you seriously telling me people are in the Christmas mood already? When finals are still on the way??? All jokes aside, your title had me in a state of shock, under the false belief that candy canes were somehow a byproduct of slave labor endorsed by the Confederacy before and during the Civil War and that it was suddenly a symbol of racial oppression. Thankfully, that’s not the case, but as you explored the intricacies and nuances of colonial American symbols—namely, the Betsy Ross flag—I began to recollect a peculiar instance of sugar-coated (ha! get it?) Confederate loyalty in modern America.
ReplyDeleteIt was in the comment section of a social media post expressing disbelief at the kindness of a white American man dressed in a tank top patterned with the Confederate flag as he fixed a stranger’s malfunctioning car on the side of a highway. While I expected the comments to share the poster’s shock, I was surprised to see many comments along the lines of, “Not all Confederate loyalists are bad!”, “Southerners who wear Confederate flags are just expressing Southern pride!”, and “You people cancel anything nowadays!” These commenters seemed to have a variety of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, too, further adding to my confusion. How could a world full of people eager to condemn modern Confederate sympathizers (including some members of the Republican Party) allow for a comment section like this, justifying their affinity for a nation that existed for five years, to exist?
I’ve been sitting at my desk for a while thinking about this, but I honestly still don’t have an answer. Maybe the poster was also white, and the man wouldn’t have helped them if they weren’t. Maybe the man just slept during history class throughout school and never learned the real meaning of the visuals on his shirt. Maybe it really is just about Southern pride. One thing is for sure: the United States is full of interesting and sometimes bizarre contradictions. Perhaps sometimes it’s just easier to let them be.