conversation
Confederate Christmas ornaments are smaller than statues – but they convey the same racist message
As Christmas approaches, many families undertake a familiar ritual: an annual stay in the attic, basement, or closet to take out a box of precious ornaments purchased, created, and collected over the years, even generations. Hanging these ornaments on the tree is an opportunity to reconnect with memories of personal landmarks, holiday icons and, in many cases, visited destinations. But, I argue, it might be time to take some of these old travel souvenirs from the tree. In researching my 2019 book, Confederate Exceptionalism, I studied sites in South America whose histories are related to enslaved labor. Seemingly charming souvenirs are sold to commemorate many of these places – from the White House of Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia, to Stone Mountain, a Georgia rock carved with images of Confederate generals. Christmas ornaments are among them. And while these souvenirs may seem apolitical, their very circulation allows Confederate myths and symbols to become “normal” features of people’s daily lives. My research suggests that this way I can desensitize Americans to the destructive nature of these stories and icons. Challenging Confederate Symbols In recent years, the United States has seen heated conversations about public symbols commemorating the Confederacy, centered on the Confederate battle flag and statues of Confederate generals. After the deadly 2015 massacre of a new black shooter at 9 black churches at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, activist Bree Newsome climbed the pole outside the state capital to remove the Confederate flag flying there. Following Newsome’s act of civil resistance, then-President Barack Obama referred to the flag of the fighting confederation as “a reminder of systemic oppression and racial subjugation.” But some in the United States and even abroad still see the flag as a symbol of “heritage, I don’t hate it.” In 2017, plans to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee sparked violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a white supremacist at the “Unite the Right” rally killed anti-protest activist Heather Heyer. This tragedy caused several cities, towns and colleagues to remove or relocate Confederate statues seen as offensive. There have been debates at the national level about how best to properly deal with this chapter of American history. Beyond the scope of these national discussions, my research on Confederate myths and the discoveries of memory, many unexamined Confederate symbols have made their way into people’s kitchens, bedrooms, and living rooms. Take “Confederate cookbooks” that help modern chefs recreate recipes from the old South and stuffed animals, based on Little Sorrel, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson’s taxidermy war horse, for example. People probably don’t reflect on the horrors of slavery. when they bake an apple pie or buy a lawn toy for their child. They are not meant to be. But it participates in that history and its mythologies. In this way, seemingly apolitical objects such as cookbooks, toys and Christmas ornaments that commemorate the history of the confederation serve to normalize – rather than problematize – the objects, rituals and stories around the Confederacy. As a result, the tree ornaments that represent the White House of the Confederacy, a house of General Robert E. Lee or the sculptures in Stone Mountain are not just memories of a leisurely visit. These places and people are also icons of the “Lost Cause,” an ideology that romanticizes the Confederacy, portraying the American Civil War as a struggle for “state rights” rather than a struggle to preserve slavery. The lost cause is still taught in some schools in the south, proving that the remains of the Confederacy are strong and enduring. Like Confederate statues and flags, Confederate Christmas ornaments reinforce this myth that the Confederacy – an entity built on white supremacy – was about southern “heritage.” What seems to be a nostalgic reminder of the journey, is actually deeply involved in a complex matrix of memory, history and racism in the United States. It’s just packaged in a seemingly benign way. Christmas ornaments communicate something about the person or family displaying them. It reveals its history, passions and aesthetic taste. So take a break to think about whether your Christmas tree is your values. Does a Stone Mountain souvenir really belong between an ornament made in a kindergarten class and a glass nutcracker given to you by your grandmother? [ Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend. Sign up for our weekly newsletter. ]This article is republished from The Conversation, a non-profit news site dedicated to exchanging ideas from university experts. Read more: * The harsh realities of slave life are erased in the Christmas tours of the southern plantations * This Christmas tells your children the true story of Santa Claus * The science of gift wrapping explains why it is better careless Nicole Maurantonio does not work, does not consult, does not own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article and has not disclosed any relevant affiliation beyond their academic appointment.