UofL Professors Weigh in on Confederate Flag

Profs. Dewey Clayton (Political Science) and Russell Vandenbroucke (Theatre Arts/Peace Studies) published op-ed pieces in Louisville’s The Courier-Journal weighing in on the issues surrounding the Confederate flag, its history and the implications of its continued use.
UofL Professors Weigh in on Confederate Flag

Flags and Flags and Flags

By Russell Vandenbroucke

At 10 a.m. on Friday, July 10, Steve Beshear, Democratic governor of Kentucky, officially opened a traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall in Lexington. At precisely the same time, Nikki Haley, Republican governor of South Carolina, presided at the lowering of the Confederate flag. The juxtaposition is coincidental, but the intense emotions enveloping the aftermath of two lost causes are not, despite the 150 years and 8,000 miles separating them.

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Time to move past the Confederacy

By Dewey Clayton

On July 4, I visited a lake on the North Carolina-Virginia border and took a boat tour of the sights and sounds on a celebratory, hot summer day. Many homes along the shores showcased American flags and red, white and blue bunting. I saw only one Confederate flag. It gave me a sense of relief and hope that this nation was becoming united, especially in the aftermath of the massacre in South Carolina.

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