Dear Editor,
In response to the Confederate Flag article.
For those of you who are completely ignorant as to what the Confederate Flag stands for, this letter would do you a great deal of good. The Confederate Flag is not a symbol of hatred, racism, slavery or white supremacy. It is the Battle Flag of Northern Virginia! This flag is a symbol of pride and unity between the Southern States. This flag that the school is trying to ban because it is supposedly a symbol of "hatred" has been flown on government property since 1894. So why would government officials be flying a flag of hatred and racism on property that represents the United States of America? You are trying to ban something you know nothing about. The Confederate Flag comes from a source of regional identity and state sovereignty. Many people associate the flag with Civil War and racism, but the Civil War wasn't just about slavery; it was about the Southern States no longer wanting to be a part of the Union with Northern States. The flag contains 13 stars, representing the original 13 colonies and an"X" placed on top of those stars. The "X" is a symbolic way of saying the Southern States wanted to be crossed out of the Union. If this flag was made for hatred and racism, it would contain elements discriminating against those people it was against. Once again it is a "battle flag" and shows pride in Southern States.
Dakota D. Willis
Dolores High School