The Office of Historical Corrections

Content Warning: This story contains discussions of the Confederate flag and racial insensitivity.

Claire Williams is a 19-year-old college student. She spends her break in Florida living with her “almost stepmother,” Puppy, and her father. She regularly hangs out with Jackson, an 18-year-old “redneck” high schooler. Jackson buys her a bikini with the Confederate flag on it. Just before she leaves to go back to college, he takes a photo of her wearing it leaning against his truck and posts it on Facebook.

Waiting for her plane back to Dennis College, Claire checks her phone and sees that the photo has gained attention on Twitter. A Black hallmate of hers sent out the photo, which caused several students at Claire’s college to message her in anger and confusion. Claire considers how she did not wear the bikini to “bother Black people” but to annoy Puppy (55). As she turns off her phone, she thinks “fuck you too” to the girl who shared her photo (55).

When Claire’s parents were still together, they lived in Virginia. When she was six, their new neighbors—the Halls—moved in next door. They were a Black family with two young children: Angela, who was Claire’s age, and Aaron, who was one year older than them. She and Angela used to torment Aaron by singing the refrain “boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider” and posting pictures of Jupiter on his bedroom door (57). Claire and Angela grew up together and became best friends. Eventually, they drifted apart when their mothers got sick and Claire’s failed to recover.

Back at Dennis College, the girl who shared the photo, Carmen, has continued to gain attention from her tweet of Claire’s photo. Angered, Claire prints a photo of the Confederate flag and writes a “Welcome Back” note on it, then slips it under Carmen’s door. The following morning, Claire has hundreds of emails, most from people she does not know. Carmen moves out of her dorm room.

Claire gets a note from the school newspaper, asking for an interview. The original photo and a photo of her note have been shared across blogs and other social media platforms. Her academic advisor has also emailed her asking to meet. She receives messages of support from several “rednecks,” who send her photos of their genitalia. The president of the campus libertarians, Robert, comes to her dorm room, saying he supports her right to freedom of expression. Through it all, Claire spends her day hiding in her room and insists to Robert that she “doesn’t care” about it. She gains support from groups like Heritage Defenders. As she reads emails of support, she feels ashamed, but she is also overwhelmed by her anger and annoyance. She prints a photo of the Confederate Flag and posts it to her dorm window, then calls the student paper to tell them that she has a right to celebrate her heritage.

Claire has a mandated meeting with the Dean of Student Affairs, the Vice Dean of Diversity, and other officials. The group advises her to take down the picture of the flag and apologize to Carmen, but they also tell her that they cannot force her to do so. They tell her that she will face a disciplinary hearing for “threatening” Carmen, which flusters Claire, who insists that it was not a threat and that she herself is getting very real threats on her phone. The group advises her to report these threats, then suggests she speak with the history department to learn more about the Confederate Flag and why it is offensive. Instead, Claire dismisses them and leaves.

As the days go by, Claire adopts a strong Southern accent, even though her mother is from Connecticut and her father is from Minnesota. She feels slightly ashamed, especially because it reminds her of Angela’s real Southern accent, but she continues to use it. Feeling finally in control, Claire returns to eating lunch in the dining hall and attending class. That night, however, she finds a blog online that is covering her story. They posted Aaron’s photo and a picture of her smashed car, but do not have most of the story and could not reach Angela’s family for comment.

Claire reflects on what happened. In her senior year of high school, four months after her mother’s death, Claire went to a party and got drunk, mostly out of grief. When Aaron showed up, she realized that she had not seen him or Angela in months. Aaron tried to take her home because of her drunken state, and she initially resisted, then allowed him to pick her up, put her in her passenger seat, and drive her home. A group of boys from the party saw a “Black guy” carrying Claire and followed him. They flashed their lights, pulled up next to him, and threw things at his car, causing Aaron to drive faster until he crashed. After the crash, Claire—who was passed out for all of it—initially tried to defend Aaron as the police and reporters spun the story to make Aaron seem like a threat. However, after several failed attempts, Claire gave up. No legal charges were ever filed against the boys who harassed Aaron on his drive. Claire never spoke with Angela or her mother again.

At a town hall organized by the campus libertarians, Robert tells Claire to wait to speak, allow everyone else to give their thoughts, and to not mention Aaron unless she has to. It is an open-mic conversation, and there are also comment cards that people can fill out to be read aloud if they don’t wish to openly speak. Claire prepares her responses, thinking over the reasons Robert gave her for supporting the Confederate Flag.

Several white students speak, including one who “apologizes” to the Black students on campus. Claire sees Carmen surrounded by rows of Black students and waits for them to speak. However, after a handful of white students speak, everyone sits in silence for several minutes. Slowly, the Black students get up, hand their comment cards to the Dean of Students, and leave without saying anything. The comment cards are all blank.