Is The Confederate Flag Just a Flag?
An 18-year-old high schools student from Tennessee was suspended more than 40 times for wearing a T-shirt and belt buckle and other items of clothing bearing the Confederate flag. He attends Anderson High School (with only one black student), which has banned the wearing or displaying of the flag not because they believe it's racist, but because it stirs up tension.
The student, Tommy Defoe, sued the school district because he says his right to free speech was violated. A mistrial was declared last week when the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision. A new trial is pending.
"I am fighting for my heritage and my rights as a Southerner and an American," said DeFoe, whose great-great uncle served in the Confederate army and "died for the South" in the Civil War.
In this country we are allowed to burn the American flag. People may not like it, but it's true. In this country, people wave the flag of their native country (when they aren't from America) at parades and sporting events. So if Southern whites want to wave the Confederate flag, how does it hurt black folks? It's just a flag. Or is it?
Maybe for this teen, he has no connection to the meaning behind it at all. Maybe he's just being rebellious, doing it just because they say he can't. Or maybe it's a symptom of real hate.
But wouldn't you rather know who your enemies are? I wish every racist would wave a Confederate flag or have some sort of mark so that I would know who I'm dealing with.
What do you think? Should the flag be banned? And will banning the flag change the mentality behind it?
Email me at: thekarenhunter@mac.com
