Driving on I-71 between Columbus and Cincinnati, you’ll surely see it: An old barn on the eastern side of the highway, the roof emblazoned with the Stars and Bars of the Confederate flag. Being a Georgia native, this always catches my eye, leading me to ponder over the possible reasons why anyone in Ohio (or anyplace north of the Mason-Dixon line, for that matter) would display representations of the Confederacy. In my opinion, seeing a Confederate flag in the North is almost as ridiculous as hearing a Ku Klux Klan member speak with a Brooklyn accent.

Yet, the Confederate flag has always been just as much a part of southern culture as pecan pie and Hank Williams Jr. In Georgia, the state flag contained the Stars and Bars until January 2001 when the legislature passed a bill removing them from the banner. I can still remember the old version of the Georgia flag flying above every school I attended, as well as government office buildings and sporting venues. It always seemed to be an indispensable element of the institutional representations of life in the South.

Regardless of this slight distinction, the flag still represents a depressing history of servitude, isolation, and torture. The color of skin was used as the basis for determining the value and rights of an entire group of human beings. Another unfortunate fact is that white power groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazis, have displayed the Stars and Bars right next to swastikas and burning crosses. Due to its association with hate and violence, I feel we must question the social and economic effects of flying the Confederate flag along with symbols of state government rule.

Prior to the removal of the Confederate flag in Georgia, the South Carolina state legislature passed a bill which removed the flag from atop the statehouse in May 2000. The state flags of Alabama and Florida incorporate the red and white Cross of St. Andrew, on which the Confederate flag was based, but they do not contain the infamous Stars and Bars. Voters in Mississippi, however, shot down an April 2001 bill sponsored by the NAACP to remove the Confederate flag from their state banner. Mississippi is the only state to still have the Stars and Bars on their flag.

Oddly enough, Mississippi has some of the highest poverty and unemployment rates in the country. The economic advantages of removing the Confederate flag were very obvious in South Carolina. With the end of the Confederate flag came the end of the NAACP convention boycott that had crippled that state’s tourism industry for decades. Also, by clinging to the Confederate flag with an iron fist, Mississippi might be keeping prospective corporations from establishing factories in their state.

Many companies have diversity policies that prohibit any representation of the Confederate flag from gracing their property, whether on a state flag or not. This didn’t stop Nissan from opening an assembly plant in Mississippi in 1999, but it could be limiting the possibilities for future economic growth there.

More important than the economic issues are the social ramifications. For blacks, the Confederate flag is the proverbial smoking-gun, embodying every obstacle to their struggle for equality, acceptance, and prosperity. Despite my Southern roots, I do think it is quite hypocritical for any wheel of government (state, local, or federal) to display the Confederate flag as a symbol of its rule when the basis for its creed and service to our citizens is “all men are created equal.”

The South has often been called the “culture of honor,” where devotion to family, heritage and Southern roots is the indispensable foundation for the entire way of life. Unless you were born and raised in the South, the Confederate flag issue is a tough one to grasp.

To many Southerners, the Confederate flag is not just a macabre symbol of oppression and bigotry, but of independence and self-determination. It was a constant reminder that even though the South was a part of the United States, we were unquestionably distinct, still rebuilding from the destruction that was thrust upon us during the Civil War, making us a singular, cohesive region of the country.

The South is regaining its honor by slowly becoming the front-running region for economic growth and social progress in the United States, destroying ever-popular jokes about dirt floors and poor literacy. Although the Confederate flag is slowly disappearing from the public eye, all Southerners can still retain their proud culture without it, forging ahead into what looks to be an even prouder future.

Andy Topetzes is a junior in political science and criminology. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].