What does the Confederate flag mean to immigrants.

June 29, 2015 – Lately, there has been a lot of talk regarding the Confederate flag due to the horrible killing at the Charleston church.  President Obama declared that Confederate flag a symbol of racial oppression. He also praised the efforts and urgency to remove the flag from the South Carolina State Capitol.  On June 27, 2015 two activists were arrested for climbing the flag pole and taking down the Confederate flag. Many are calling them “heroes” while others are protesting their freedom to keep a legacy of the South, and an emblem which represents Southern identity.  It is clear that not everybody sees the Confederate flag as a “symbol of oppression.”  The truth is that the Confederate flag is only a symbol.  What is associated to it is what is the real problem as it relates to different races.

Many immigrants are not aware of the importance or issues related to the Confederate flag.  As such I wanted to search to what extent the Confederate flag affects or can affect immigrants. While searching the relationship of immigrants and the Confederate flag, I stumbled on an article “How immigrants crushed the Confederate battle flag: Column.”  The article covers how immigrants were recruited to defend the Union against the Confederates. History mentions a lot about the ‘pro-slave’ Confederates and those fought them.  The Confederate banner was also used to  fight the civil rights movement in the sixties and after.  This movement, we should not forget is the father of civil rights which eventually gave birth of the modern immigration system.  Therefore, immigrants need to know that  the Confederate flag is obviously an anti-immigration flag.  The irony is that those who carried the Confederate banner were also promoting a forced immigration: slavery! Unfortunately this is not the kind of immigration most of us would prefer.

Why is it important for Immigrants to monitor the “rise of” the Confederate flag?

The debate which the Confederate flag is bringing on the table will obviously outline the number of people who are against or pro this flag.  Depending on the numbers on each side, we will know how much immigrants are being affected. Since it is quite easy to equate the flag to anti-immigration group, and adding those who are anti-confederate flag but who are anti-immigration, we can easily conclude where the immigration debate will be heading.  If we see more elected officials defending the flag, this will mean that immigrants might see themselves entangled into “new civil cold war.” As such it is important for the immigrant community to learn about US history and its implication not only on the African American  but also on the immigrant community.

While as a lawyer, I should respect the freedom of speech which the flag represents, as an immigration lawyer, I cannot ignore its implication on the immigrant community.  Unfortunately immigrants can only observe what might happen as a result of whether the flag keeps flying high in some Southern states or will be taken down in the near future. This debate is worth following.