Following uproar over a Kelliher man flying Nazi and Confederate flags above his home, some in Saskatchewan are making the argument the Confederate flag is not racist.
Similar to points made for the flag in the southern United States, some in the province say it’s a symbol of southern pride and war history, with some attributing the recent outcry to left-wing outrage.
But according to an American history professor, the flag as it appears today does have racist connotations, and those who fly it likely don’t know what they’re implying.
“The imagery that we see today was popularized after World War II as a symbol of white resistance to the civil rights movement in the U.S.,” said Dawn Flood, Associate Professor of United States History at Campion College, part of the University of Regina.
Flood says southerners in the confederacy didn’t necessarily think in radicalized terms, as they truly believed slavery was justified by the Bible: something she believes some who fly the flag in Saskatchewan may not understand.
“It could be because very few people understand the history behind these symbols,” Flood said.
“If there are people here who have ancestors who fought on the side of the south, that they need to look at and kind of reconcile what they were fighting for,” said Rhonda Rosenberg, executive director of the Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan.
Based on a report by CTV Regina's Colton Wiens.
