Patterson Hood & Warren Haynes Discuss Confederate Flag

The controversy regarding South Carolina’s use of the Confederate flag has reached a fevered pitch following last month’s church shootings in Charleston. In recent days both Gov’t Mule front man Warren Haynes and Drive-By Truckers front man Paterson Hood have weighed in on the controversy.

[Photo by Jeremy Williams]

Hood penned an op-ed piece in today’s New York Times in which he shares his opinion on the symbol:

“It’s high time that a symbol so divisive be removed. The flags coming down symbolize the extent to which those who cry “heritage, not hate” have already lost their argument. Why would we want to fly a symbol that has been used by the K.K.K. and terrorists like Dylann Roof? Why would a people steeped in the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible want to rally around a flag that so many associate with hatred and violence? Why fly a flag that stands for the very things we as Southerners have worked so hard to move beyond?”

Petterson also tells the story behind the song “The Southern Thing,” which the guitarist feels has often been misinterpreted. The best part of the essay is its conclusion which reads, “If we want to truly honor our Southern forefathers, we should do it by moving on from the symbols and prejudices of their time and building on the diversity, the art and the literary traditions we’ve inherited from them. It’s time to study and learn about who we are and where we came from while finding a way forward without the baggage of our ancestors’ fears and superstitions. It’s time to quit rallying around a flag that divides. And it is time for the South to — dare I say it? — rise up and show our nation what a beautiful place our region is, and what more it could become.” Head here to read Hood’s well thought out essay.

Warren Haynes has similar thoughts on the confederate flag. “I’ve been in favor for a long time of getting rid of any public display of the rebel flag,” Haynes told Radio.com. The guitarist is well versed in the history surrounding the flag. “The fact is, that flag didn’t start flying again at the end of the Civil War,” Warren said. “It started flying again towards the beginning of the Civil Rights movement as a way of showing defiance towards the Civil Rights movement. We need to be clear about the origin of flying that flag, when it happened and why it happened.”

Haynes isn’t impressed by those who wave rebel flags at his shows. “We used to tour a lot in Europe, and when we played there, there’d be people flying rebel flags, and they’d be doing it to honor the music. But that’s not what it’s about,” the guitarist said. “When I look back and think that there were a lot of bands flying the flag in the old days, I guess we were just much more naive at that point, and didn’t realize how it is interpreted by the people who are offended. And that’s really what it’s all about. I’m a Southerner, I can’t tell you how long I’ve thought it was offensive.”

Warren feels Southerners should be proud of their heritage, but not the flag. “Be proud of who you are,” Haynes added. “You don’t need a symbol to be proud of who you are.”