SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Generational ties to Confederate flag may be why it still flies in Washington
Jun 24, 2015, 5:34 PM | Updated: Jun 25, 2015, 5:58 am
Confederate flags that once flew at the South Carolina Statehouse are displayed at the South Carolina State Museum, Wednesday in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)
(AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)
The idea of taking down the Confederate flag may be difficult for people because of how engrained it is in their heritage.
If someone was taught to respect that flag, then suddenly being told to fly it might come as a bit of a shock, KIRO Radio’s Ron Upshaw said.
“You want to identify with what it means to you,” he said.
It’s as common to see the Confederate flag flying along a highway in South Carolina as it is to see a 12th Man flag flying along a highway in Seattle, KIRO Radio’s Don O’Neill added.
And what is the 12th Man flag? Physically it is a blue rectangle with a 1 and 2, Ron said. The flag is all about what it means to a fan and the civic pride; and the excitement fans get for seeing the Seattle Seahawks defeat the San Francisco 49ers.
“It might take them a while to tip on [the Confederate flag debate],” Ron said. “It’s not going to happen over night.”
And maybe that’s why, even after countless news reports and people asking for it to come down, the Confederate flag is still flying — even in the Pacific Northwest.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans Pacific Northwest Division stands by its decision to keep the flag flying in Ridgefield. The flag is part of Jefferson Davis Park, a privately owned park honoring the president of the Confederacy.
Attempts to reach out to the organization for comment were unsuccessful by Wednesday night. However, the organization has been active on both its blog and Facebook page.
According to a post on Sunday, the organization and park have become under a “media attack,” since Dylann Roof walked into a church and killed nine African-Americans, and people around the country have called for the Confederate flag to come down. The organization is non-political and anti-racist, according to the post. It does not support the actions of Roof.
The organization’s main purpose is to “honor and defend the Confederate Soldiers good name and make sure that the true history of the South is presented to future generations,” the post reads. “The news media is trying to create a story out of nothing.”
The post goes on to read that the organization will never stop defending its heritage.
“The South was right to secede and it wasn’t until Lincoln sent 70,000 soldiers to wage war on Americans, that the people finally saw that their only chance to stay free would be to leave,” the post continues. “The war was not fought over Slavery, which has been proven to be true over and over again. It was all related to the tariff and State vs National power. The South simply wanted to be left alone, but the United States wouldn’t allow it to be free.”
