College Football and Southern Culture: Coexistence Could Be In Danger

College football is an integral part of the culture in every area of the country, but will the southern culture become a demon to one of it’s favorite sons?

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In the land of the Southeastern Conference, from August through January, football is king. While the majority of the nation celebrates the football season, the Southeast revels in it. They feed on it and treat it with an almost divine reverence.

Having lived in the Southern United States for the better part of my life, I’ve seen the truth behind the joke, “College football ain’t a game, it’s a religion”. The culture of the Southeast bleeds into everything they do – the food, the music, the writing, and of course, the sports.

College football has been in a BFF relationship with Southern culture for a long time, but have recent events put that friendship in jeopardy?

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South Bound & Down

We’ve reached a crossroad in our country where the culture of the South, and some of its symbols, are being rejected…some, rightfully so. But how will this affect the upcoming season as well as seasons to come? Can Southern culture and it’s hand-in-hand brother college football still coexist without causing undue strife?

Another staple of the Southern sports culture, NASCAR, has already seen the writing on the wall when it comes to the most visible and controversial symbol of the south’s heritage, the Confederate battle flag.

The flag’s removal from state houses and government buildings in South Carolina, Alabama and other states has resulted a visceral, emotional reaction, causing those who tag the banner as being nothing more than a reminder of racism and hated to have it removed from public view entirely.

NASCAR members reacted with the following email that was sent out to media members and those in connection with the sport:

"Statement from NASCAR Industry MembersJuly 2, 2015"

"As members of the NASCAR industry, we join NASCAR in the desire to make our events among the most fan-friendly, welcoming environments in all of sports and entertainment.To do that, we are asking our fans and partners to join us in a renewed effort to create an all-inclusive, even more welcoming atmosphere for all who attend our events. This will include the request to refrain from displaying the Confederate Flag at our facilities and NASCAR events.We are committed to providing a welcoming atmosphere free of offensive symbols. This is an opportunity for NASCAR Nation to demonstrate its sense of mutual respect and acceptance for all who attend our events while collectively sharing the tremendous experience of NASCAR racing."

The problem with this type of “request”…as the email so politely puts it…is that it may have the direct opposite effect from the what seems to be desired, and it’s likely that we see a similar request coming from either schools, conferences, or the NCAA.

Likewise, if the Southern universities — where some Americans who claim the Confederate flag as a part of their heritage and believe it is their right to display it — ask those fans and students to refrain from wearing or displaying the banderole at games, the results may be catastrophic.

The removal of the symbol of the Confederacy from official government buildings was a victory, and a step in reversing a blatant display of defiance towards the U.S. government. However, that victory morphed into an outcry by those whom the flag offends towards its complete removal.

Here’s where things get murky. If you poke the hornet’s nest with a hot stick, you have to assume the inhabitants won’t be pleased.

There’s overt hatred and racism, like that displayed by 21-year-old Dylann Roof when he casually sauntered into the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, S.C. and allegedly shot and killed nine people.

College students who were born and raised with the sight of Confederate flags being as common as indoor plumbing have no idea why the tag of hatred is applied

Then, there’s the kind of silent and brooding hatred that I see on a daily basis from people who live in the South. People who keep racism buried deep in their hearts, only exposing it to a trusted select group of friends, and who are smart enough not to ever publicly say or do anything that would expose them for the bigots they truly are.

They befriend those who they secretly despise. They don’t make waves, but don’t join in the good fight either.

It’s this second group of people who have suddenly had their chains rattled by the calls to ban the symbol of the Confederacy, and who could be come even more openly defiant if they feel their rights are being trampled upon.

They’ve felt relatively safe inside their bubbles…until now.

As someone who was born and has roots in the North, but was raised in the South, I have the advantage of looking at Southerners from a very neutral viewpoint. The concept of “Southern Pride” — while alien to many — is a very real thing, even to the youngest members of this cross-section of people.

Pre-teens, high schoolers and even college students who were born and raised with the sight of Confederate flags being as common as indoor plumbing have no idea why the tag of hatred is applied. When some in the South talk about the flag being about “heritage” as apposed to hatred, it’s a statement made out of blind ignorance to what the truth behind that flag really is.

To them, the flag is no more a symbol of hatred than Waffle Houses or Moon Pies. It’s simply a standard associated with the South, and something that gives them a sense of belonging. To suggest that the flag be banned or even unwelcome at sporting events is more than just insulting to this group, it brings a sense of aggressive occupation of their culture.

So how will the powers who regulate and run college football react to what has happened surrounding this iconic symbol?

Outside of Ole Miss being gracious enough to deep six former mascot Colonel Reb, the worlds of modern Southern college football and racial politics have seldom crossed. But that doesn’t mean that symbols of the Southern culture, in particular that controversial flag, are absent from view.

Look around the next time you watch a game hosted in a Southern school. My guess, you’ll see the Confederate flag displayed in more than one place. Even if cameras are instructed not to fixate on it, you’ll probably still catch it.

So do networks use the banning of the flag as a wedge to appease the general public?

Ben Sigman looked at a Confederate flag with an image of Elvis Presley that was hanging from a tent. Brandon Dill for The Wall Street Journal

The biggest sports network in the world, ESPN, has a tremendous investment in the SEC with last year’s launch of the SEC Network. Will they risk alienating a huge portion of the fans that so eagerly supported the network?

ESPN’s flagship college football show, College GameDay, also travels frequently to SEC and ACC schools, usually drawing some of the biggest crowds of the season. Will there be an ultimatum given of refusal to bring the traveling show to a school who has not forbidden the display of a Confederate battle flag by fans?

What about donors? If a request to eliminate the flag at games is made, will wealthy donors who come from long grey lines withhold cash from their alma maters? Could plans for new stadiums, facilities and other amenities be put on hold for sudden lack of funding?

Perhaps an issue as important as this shouldn’t come down to money…but this is college football, this is the home of Saturday Millionaires (an excellent book, if you’ve never given it a read), and the painful truth is that it all comes down to money.

Will the almighty dollar…bushels of dead presidents…greenbacks stacked as high as the nosebleed seats…become the reason that Southern culture and college football see a parting of ways?

This partnership of culture and sport has been mutually beneficial to schools, athletes and fans. And it could all go up in smoke because of a flag and the threat of losing money. It comes down to whitewashing our past, or mortgaging the future of a sport already teetering on chaos.

Make no mistake, the Confederate flag (and variants) is offensive. The true history — not what is taught in many redacted textbooks — shows that the roots of the Confederacy boil down to racism and the fight to retain slavery. But the other flag, the one rightfully flown over state houses and capital buildings, says that the Southern people have a right to personally display their flag however they see fit.

There’s no easy answer, and perhaps taking a stand in either direction only causes more trouble. The hornet’s nest has been stirred, and now it could get ugly. College football in the South is big business, and this controversy could mean an upheaval.

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