It's no great shock to learn that 19-year-old college student in South Carolina provoked a storm of protests after he'd hung a Confederate flag from his dorm room window. But here's the twist: The student in question, Byron Thomas, is black. "I know it's kind of weird because I'm black," Thomas said in a video he posted online in response to his school's request that he take the flag down. Thomas, who says he prefers to be called black rather than African-American, adds that he believes the Confederate flag is a sign of Southern pride, and not racism. The University of South Carolina Beaufort has since relented and said Thomas can put the flag back up in his room if he wants. "When I look at this flag, I don't see racism. I see respect, Southern pride," Thomas said. "This flag was seen as a communication symbol" during the Civil War, he added. "I've been getting a lot of support from people. My generation is interested in freedom of speech." The university received about two-dozen complaints from students and families visiting around the Thanksgiving holiday, said spokeswoman Candace Brasseur. In response, the university sent Thomas, his fellow students and the university staff an email asking that the flag be removed from public view, "out of respect for his fellow students' concerns." However, Brasseur said the university has since reversed itself, electing to permit Thomas to put the flag back up; because of the school's "firm belief in the First Amendment and its right of free speech, the University cannot and will not prohibit these flags or other symbols that our students choose to display," she said. However, there is one obstacle potentially greater than peer pressure or university rules that may prompt him to Thomas to take the flag down: his parents. He says his parents are not fans of his decision to hoist the flag--and, well, they are paying his tuition bills. "I don't want to make my parents mad," he said. "I may wait until Monday to put it up." Link
He's either an idiot or a genius! If he was trying to get himself noticed...he has succeeded brilliantly....if he actually thinks a confederate flag only represents "southern pride".....WOW! He should probably read what the southern men who proudly flew that flag in battle wrote about people that looked like him....read a little about the history of the civil war.....then he'd get why it's probably not a good idea unless you're a racist....let alone that there are few instances in history where people lose a war and still get to fly their colors...it's normally just not done. Without talking to him to understand his motivation...I can't say either way, but his self promotion or ignorance aside....confederate flags and those that insist on flying them are actually kinda sad at this point! Talk about folks that need to get over it!
What about American flags?....do they truly only represent American pride? or must they also bear the shame of the countries' atrocities throughout it's existence?
I remember years ago talking to a friend about this. She grew up in the south and viewed the confederate flag as a symbol of pride only, not the negative symbol most think it represents. I believed her knowing who she was as a person and how she felt about black people in general. Personally, I've always looked at it as a negative symbol living in CT and having zero "southern pride". But.....I believe there are many people like my friend who genuinely see it as something entirely different.
