Confederacy Theory

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Produced by: Ryan Deussing

56 min. Color. 2002.

Captioned: No

Catalog #: 0112

Price: $295.00

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Product Description

This powerful and thought-provoking documentary explores the complexities of a controversy steeped in American history and racial divisiveness: the debate over the Confederate flag in South Carolina, the last state to fly the flag on its capitol. Using never-before-seen archival footage and exclusive interviews with politicians, pundits, activists, and scholars, “Confederacy Theory” traces the impact of the Confederate emblem on Southern culture, history, and identity — from the Civil War to the front lines of a modern-day secessionist movement.

Although the Civil War ended long ago, across the American South this century-old defeat holds a prominent place in the popular psyche, to the point that talk of the “war between the states” often peppers daily conversation. Now a contemporary cultural war has erupted over the meaning and use of the Confederate battle flag, which many see as a racist symbol celebrating the Southern defense of slavery during the Civil War and Southern resistance to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. The flag’s defenders, meanwhile, cling to the notion of a Southern “lost cause” and in many respects echo the resentments of their Confederate ancestors. Today this heated controversy has become one of the most contentious issues in the South since desegregation.

With its engaging attention to detail and its deft, even-handed treatment of its thorny subject matter, “Confederacy Theory” will spark analysis and discussion in a wide variety of courses in sociology and popular culture, social psychology, American history and studies, and African-American studies. It was produced by Ryan Deussing.