Well I’ve always seen it as a symbol of racism and darker times in this nation. In fact, it’s right up there with the KKK’s attire. I know that there are states that have the battle flag in their flag, and I think that there are universities that have the flag incorporated in their school flag as well, but that doesn’t change how I feel about it. In fact, we had a football game my junior year of high school in El Campo, TX and I along with quite a few of my black band mates were afraid to get off of the bus because of the overwhelming number of Confederate battle flags that were hung from so many homes we passed on the way to the stadium as well as the racial epithets being yelled at us. El Campo’s band leadership didn’t even want to “meet the band” during the third quarter. In fact, I think that was the first time I ever experienced outright racism. Our band directors made sure that we were safe, and nothing was done to us physically, but hearing those racial slurs and not even being addressed by kids our age (who in my opinion had no reason to hate us) was something that’s always stuck with me.
As a nation we’ve taken steps to change professional teams and school mascots that are offensive to Native Americans, but we allow states to fly the Confederate battle flag? That doesn’t make sense to me. This shouldn’t even be a discussion, in my opinion the flag should banned from all major retailers and removed from all state flags, capitals and other buildings…as a start.
