saieth not, but since all of the Yalencolleges are named for dead whitenmen, presumably heterosexual — well,nI fear the worst.nDamn it, it’s time for the loyalnremnant at Calhoun College to thinknabout secession. Take the college’snemoluments, take its hunting printsnand Charleston Mercury clipping, takenthe old man’s walking stick, and headnsouth. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea tonhonor Yale with your presence in thenfirst place.nYou know, this is the kind of thingnthat makes otherwise mild-mannerednSouthern white boys in New Englandncolleges want to chew tobacco, cranknup Hank Williams Jr. on the stereo,nand run up the rebel flag. Black folksnwon’t believe this, but that last impulsenhas absolutely nothing to do withnthem.nH= * *nWhich leads me to the Harvard story.nA clipping from the Boston Globentells of the travails last spring of MissnBrigit Kerrigan, a Harvard pre-law studentnwho had the temerity to hang anConfederate battle flag from her dormitorynwindow. The Globe’s reporterncalled Miss Kerrigan “aggressivelynSouthern,” apparently because shenwears floral prints and pink sweatersnand addresses journalists as “ma’am.”nIn fact, she comes from the Virginiansuburbs of D.C., but, as she rightlynpointed out, “You can be born innAlaska and still be Southern. It’s a statenof mind.” Besides, her daddy runs anchewing tobacco trade association.nAnyway, soon after Miss Kerrigan’sndisplay of Southern pride, the sensitivitynpolice moved in. Her faculty housemastersnwrote in an open letter thatnthey “empathize with those for whomnpublic display of the Confederate flagnis a source of pain,” and rebuked MissnKerrigan for being “unwilling to joinnthis community spirit by removing hernflag.” She found herself being KittynKellied in a Harvard Crimson biographicalnsketch, and the president ofnthe university himself called her actionn(guess what) “insensitive.” (He alsonsaid it was “unwise,” an argument thatndoesn’t impress Southerners, who, afternall, started a war without having anynmunitions factories.)nYou know, if the president had reallynwanted to persuade Miss Kerrigan, henwouldn’t have called her “insensitive,”nhe’d have criticized her manners. For anwell-raised Southerner, that’s the killernargument. And, actually, her mannersndid leave something to be desired. It’sntrue that her flag offended the peoplenshe wanted to offend (who could usensome offending, unless they’venchanged since I left Cambridge inn1964). But it also annoyed some bystanders,nincluding some of her fellownSoutherners, black ones in particular.nJacinda Townsend, of BowlingnGreen, Kentucky, for instance, respondednto Miss Kerrigan’s flag bynflying one of her own—with a swastikanon it. Miss Townsend (who, by thenway, spoke to the Globe movingly andneloquently of her own love for thenSouth) said that her intent was to getnall flags banned, by flying one that shenassumed would offend everybody.nWell, it certainly did that, and shenfinally took it down when the BlacknStudent Association asked her to, sayingnthat it was making black-Jewishnrelations more difficult. Miss Townsendnsaid that she hadn’t realized hownmonstrously and particularly offensiventhe swastika is to Jewish students.nHaving grown up in the small-townnSouth myself, I believe her. But looknhere. Miss Townsend, I also believe —nin fact, I know — that many whitenSoutherners simply don’t realize hownthreatening you find the Confederatenflag. I’m not saying they’d stop displayingnit if they did realize that (theynmight just tell you to get over it), butnit’s a fact that most of them don’t meannwhat you think they mean, any morenthan you meant what Hillel thoughtnyou meant.nMore about this business of meaningnin a minute, but while I’m givingnunsolicited advice, I have some for thenrebel lass, Miss Kerrigan, too. It comesnin the form of a story.nFrom time immemorial our localnchapter of the Kappa Alpha Order hasnflown the Confederate flag during thenweek of its Old South Ball. Starting innthe 1960’s that practice every yearnoccasioned rancorous ill-will, until ancouple of years ago when some geniusndecided to fly the Confederate nationalnflag, the Stars and Bars proper, insteadnof the battle flag. Now an eerie calmnhas descended. The brothers still honorntheir traditions, but now with a flagnthat apparenfly lacks the offensive connotationsnof the Southern Cross.nnnThink about that. Miss Kerrigan.n* * *nBut, of course, one reason nobodynobjects to the Stars and Bars is thatnhardly anybody knows what it is. WhennYankee Pharisees get going on thenunrighteousness of our people and ournheritage and you want to stick it in theirnear, only the battie flag will do.nSticking it in their ear is what I takenMiss Kerrigan’s real purpose to havenbeen, and I respect her for it. Raisingnhell is a traditional Southern pastime,nand she did a bang-up job of it. As shensaid to the Globe, “If they talk aboutndiversity, they’re gonna get it. If theyntalk about tolerance, they better benready to have it.”nIn other words, here’s some “multiculturalism,”nsucker—in your face.nAnd what, after all, does the flagnmean? To Miss Kerrigan’s critics andnapparently to the Harvard establishmentnit means hate, and violence, andnthe Ku Klux Klan. But to her, she says,nit means:nREFLECTIONS ON THEnFRENCH REVOLUTIONnEiiikti bv Skjiieu lomor .n:AHIUMil£WMPOStiM CnHILLSDALE COLLEGE PRESSnby arrangement with Regnery Gatewayn160 pp. 35 photosn^.counts for *ncUissroam^i^^ Visa / MC / Discovern1-800-437-2268nFREE SHIPPING ^°’ discount informationn$17.95 hardcover (517)439-1528n$2.00 off cover price! ext. 2319nAUGUST 1991/43n