Clyburn: To strengthen The Citadel, remove the Confederate flag

David Lauderdale’s column last week supporting The Citadel’s denial of a student’s request to wear a hijab brought to mind my opposition to flying the Confederate battle flag there.

That objectionable banner, which was never the official flag of the Confederacy, is a symbol of white supremacy and resistance to the rule of law. Any doubt as to the flag’s meaning to a great swath of South Carolinians was erased by the perpetrator of the horrific shootings at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston on June 17 of last year.

Mr. Lauderdale opines that The Citadel’s purpose as a military college is to build a corps, where “it is not about faith …. It is not about freedom of expression or constitutional rights … people give up themselves for something larger.”

While reasonable people can disagree on the proper application of these sentiments to the hijab issue, I believe Mr. Lauderdale’s argument makes a compelling case that the Confederate battle flag has no place at a military college.

That argument has been endorsed by the U.S. Supreme Court. “To accomplish its mission,” the court observed in 1986, “the military must foster instinctive obedience, unity, commitment and esprit de corps.”

In recent days, Citadel alumni have reached out to me to express their support for my efforts to bring the flag down. One of these alumni, Larry Ferguson, desegregated the band but was subsequently kicked out for refusing to wave the Confederate battle flag and to play the song “Dixie” at sporting events.

In another letter, 17 alumni wrote that the flag “is representative of an ideology of hate, privilege and an abuse of power that still persists in the life of the school and in the state’s halls of power and influence.”

These letters make abundantly clear how the glorification of such an odious symbol at a military college undermines the principles endorsed by Mr. Lauderdale and the Supreme Court. Recognizing this reality, the military constitutionally restricts displays of the Confederate battle flag by service members. Institutions that train military officers should not display this hateful banner either.

I trust that Mr. Lauderdale and all those who agree with his rationale on the The Citadel’s hijab issue will agree with me that the Confederate battle flag must not fly at that storied military institution.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Clyburn: To strengthen The Citadel, remove the Confederate flag."