Ex-Va. Senator Webb: Confederate Flag Part of 'Complicated History'

Former Democratic Virginia senator Jim Webb, who's mulling a presidential bid, says the Confederate flag has been wrongly used as a racist symbol — but stopped short of calling for its removal from public places as other White House contenders have done.

Instead, Webb wrote in a Facebook post about the "complicated history" of the Civil War, noting "honorable Americans fought on both sides."

"This is an emotional time and we all need to think through these issues with a care that recognizes the need for change but also respects the complicated history of the Civil War," he wrote in his first remarks about the flag debate that has erupted in the wake of the race-fueled slayings of nine people at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C.

"The Confederate Battle Flag has wrongly been used for racist and other purposes in recent decades. It should not be used in any way as a political symbol that divides us."
"But we should also remember that honorable Americans fought on both sides in the Civil War, including slave holders in the Union Army from states such as Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware, and that many non-slave holders fought for the South," Webb added.

"It was in recognition of the character of soldiers on both sides that the federal government authorized the construction of the Confederate Memorial 100 years ago, on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery."

Webb concluded: "This is a time for us to come together, and to recognize once more that our complex multicultural society is founded on the principle of mutual respect."

The Washington Post notes Webb's "ambivalent tone" reflects his previously stated belief — in a speech at the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in 1990 — that Confederate soldiers are "misunderstood by most Americans," recognizing their "enormous suffering and collective gallantry."

In a 2004 history of the Scots-Irish in America, "Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America," Webb decried what he called the "Nazification of the Confederacy."

Webb has claimed his heritage and outlook make him appealing to the white working-class voters who feel vilified by liberals as racist.

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