The Confederate battle flag adorns the porches, license plates and
shoulders of millions of Americans, filling them with regional pride
and historical fulfillment. Its starry blue X on a field of red is one
of the most recognizable symbols in American history and represents
decades of Southern culture.
It also represents everything that was and is wrong with the American
South. Because millions of Americans find it hurtful and
discriminatory, the Confederate flag should not stand for Southern
pride, and it should not stand for Confederate veterans but what it
actually represents: the violence, disunity and fear that the
Confederate cause promoted. But in Florida, the Sons of Confederate
Veterans plan on celebrating this dangerous image by raising a 139-foot
flagpole over Hillsborough County, near one of the busiest interstate
intersections in the state.
The Confederate battle flag is a symbol of hate. It represents the
fighting that strived to destroy our nation and the violence that kept
millions of Americans oppressed and afraid. As college students in
Texas, we shouldn't be ignorant of this. In 2001, the Kappa Alpha
fraternity at the University of North Texas waved the Confederate
battle flag and shouted racial slurs at incoming black freshmen. Why
did they wave that flag in particular?
Flyin' the Stars and Bars, Still
Seems like every few years, someone wants to fly the confederate flag in a prominent spot, and the endless debate about the flag's meaning gets rekindled. Here's a UT student shows his displeasure with the flag's upcoming appearance in Hillsborough County, FL. Granddad would be proud, surely.
