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I just recently did an Internet search and found 38 assorted photos of Ku Klux Klan activities. In these 38 photos, there are displayed 55 U.S. flags, eight Confederate flags and one sign which says "Our Flag The Stars and Stripes Forever."
For those who have not studied history, the Stars and Stripes is the U.S. flag. As a side note, there is no such thing as the American flag, there are many American flags; therefore, I refer to the U.S. flag as the U.S. flag.
I am appalled, appalled at the display of the U.S. flag at these Klan activities. The U.S. flag has flown over slavery, cross burnings, KKK parades and general terrorist activities against minorities. It is way past time we reconsider our sanction of the U.S. flag flying over government buildings including public schools.
The U.S. flag needs to be relegated to museums and private property because of its racist past. I am offended that we continue to allow this flag to be misrepresented by its supporters. Every time I see a U.S. flag on the back window of a car I am frightfully reminded of its terrorist past.
The Klan itself even states that it is an American organization, not Confederate, and its official flag is the flag of the U.S.
If I choose to paint a lynching and a cross burning over the U.S. flag, I demand respect from the higher institutions of learning, the galleries and the communities where my painting may be displayed.
By the way, not one slave ship flew the flag of the Confederate States of America.
Fred Chitwood
Flowery Branch