Source: Jerry Wells / Jerry Wells
You may have read my recent post about the governor of Alabama ordering the Confederate flag taken down from where it had flown over a memorial on the Alabama capitol grounds. His action, of course, comes on the heels of the Charleston Massacre, committed by an avowed white supremacist who, like many others, used the confederate flag as a personal symbol. Black activists have, for years, pushed for it to be removed from South Carolina’s State Capitol grounds, where it still flies over a Civil War Memorial, and from any other local, state or federal property.
Now that Alabama’s governor has taken this action and South Carolina’s governor has cleared the way to have that state’s legislature to again consider the flag’s removal, many retailers across the country, led by Wal-Mart, have announced that they will remove the confederate flag and merchandise displaying it from their shelves and inventories. I applaud their (new found) sensitivity to that flag’s meaning to African Americans, or maybe it’s sensitivity to the possible impact on their bottom lines if Blacks stop spending money in their stores. Either way, I’ll take it.
Meanwhile, retailers who continue to stock the confederate flag and items displaying it, report increased sales. One retailer in Georgia says that sales always pick up when anti-flag sentiment is running high and states consider banning it. Dent Myers, proprietor of a Civil War memorabilia business in Georgia adds that this time it’s more intense, saying “… people are kinda ired for some reason.” Ired! There’s a word for you!
Flag supporters call the confederate flag a “symbol of our rich southern heritage.” Yeah, rich all right, with memories of slavery, brutality, lynchings, rapes, the KKK and the list goes on. Nobody’s stopping folks from displaying this hated symbol on their property, but it doesn’t belong on any state, local or federal building or property. TAKE IT DOWN! Better late than never!
This is Jerry Wells and I’m just sayin’!
