Civic Artifact Essay Ideas

Ok, I’m a little confused about the direction of my essay at this point, so I don’t really have a concrete outline prepared for y’all to read. Thus, I decided to use this blog to post some of my ideas for a paper topic. Also, since I really want to focus on the ideas themselves without getting bogged in the entry’s overarching flow and structure, I’ll be listing each thought separately with a short blurb of how it connects to my speech’s civic artifact.

As always, feedback is highly welcome and encouraged.

Confederate Battle Reenactments

civil-war-battle-reenactment

Southerners take their battle reenactments very seriously.

Though they range in level of membership, legitimate reenactors normally convene every weekend and can each spend up to a fourth of their annual income on these gatherings (and I thought I spent a lot of money on sneakers). They also go to extreme measures to simulate war time conditions for the Confederate soldiers, including starving themselves and employing unconventional hygienic practices (i.e., not showering for days).

To most of us, this practice sounds like a waste of time at best, and a health issue at worst. Yet, there’s perhaps no better way to honor the  livelihood and hardships of Confederate soldiers than by actually modeling their lives after them. As Robert Lee Hodge, a famous participant within the reenactment community, puts it, “When you get into the grim details of war, you realize you’ve lived a soft life. I think we all have guilt about that.”

Confederate Flag atop SC Capitol Building

I’m definitely leaning more towards this one because honestly, what lends more credence to the Confederate flag as a civic artifact than an actual Confederate flag?

In all seriousness, what I really like about this particular flag is that it has an intricate, multi-dimensional narrative behind it. Initially, South Carolina legislation voted to hang the flag atop the Capitol building to protest desegregation in the South. However, the flag was eventually enshrined as a Southern relic in 2000 before it’s removal from the government property 15 years later.

I’ll be the first to admit that, to me, the flag is mostly a symbol of slavery and the systematic oppression of Blacks during both the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement. But I’ll also admit that the flag’s meaning cannot be encapsulated by such a black-and-white perception; it requires a detailed historical lens to truly capture and rhetorically analyze what this specific flag has meant for South Carolinians, and the rest of the US.

What do y’all think?

One thought on “Civic Artifact Essay Ideas

  1. i think you should choose the flying of the confederate flag on top of the South Carolina Capital Building. Because the reenactments are historical battles and they are remembering a battle that went on. you could talk more about how flying the flag on state property a bad representation of the ideals of the state. It will bring up more of a discussion then reenactments. to me both of these options to me don’t really have to much of an issue to talk about but that’s just me. i think you will have a strong essay if you can bring in more information.

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