Dear Future President of the USA,

I am writing to you unknowingly, whether I am addressing Madam Secretary or Mr. Trump. Nevertheless, I wish to bring back to your attention the debate about the Confederate States of America’s battle flag, which is flown legally all over the country The flag is even pictured in the Mississippi state flag. The CSA battle flag should never again see the light of day, for what it stands for violates the very principles our beloved nation was built upon. Not only is the flag a symbol of racism, segregation and slavery, but it has since been endorsed by not only the KKK, but also various white supremacist groups in and out of the country.

In 1861, 11 states seceded from the USA. and created the Confederate States of America, built upon the core ideology of white supremacy and the right to own slaves as property. After the south seceded they created numerous battle flags, but the last two had something very similar in them; a blue St Andrew's cross on a red field with thirteen white stars. This portion of the flag has evolved to become the “Confederate Flag”, and was even a Tennessee army’s battle flag during the civil war, this flag has evolved into the one we know today. The flag resurfaced just before the civil rights Movement in 1948 when a South Carolinian politician ran for president under the State's Rights Democratic party, aka the “Dixiecrats”, using the Confederate flag as their symbol. Article IV of the party's platform read “We stand for segregation of the races”, blatantly stating their racist beliefs(Third Party Platforms). In Georgia, two days after Brown v. Board of Ed in 1954, the confederate battle flag was added to the state flag, in protest. It was then taken off the flag in 2001. The flag was also flown at the University of Mississippi to protest against desegregated schools. The KKK has since then embraced the flag. On July 28th of 2015 the KKK and various neo nazi white supremacist groups rallied in protest at the removal of the CSA battle flag from South Carolina capitol hill(abcnews.com). The flag is so rich with negative connotation and a history so despicable, we cannot lose sight of our very nations bare principles. The flag must be removed.

Making it illegal to fly the CSA battle flag could seem to be unconstitutional and may seem by some to be wrong, and going against the constitution. This argument could be made since article one of our constitution states guaranteed freedom of speech. Although freedom of speech is protected by our constitution's 1st amendment, exceptions have been made by the supreme court for “Fighting Words” to be unconstitutional in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire(cornell.edu). Although the flag does not directly state that it stands for segregation, racism or slavery, the history may imply that it could be interpreted as such. If you bring this to the supreme court's attention the decision should be made with integrity, morality, and decency.

The CSA battle flag is no longer a just a flag, and it never was just a flag, it is now a symbol of hatred, animosity, bigotry and only that. There is no justification to to fly this repulsive belligerent flag in this beautiful country for it cannot and will not be tolerated anymore. Action must take place.

In the modified words of Mr. Reagan “Mr(s). President, TAKE DOWN THIS FLAG”

Sincerely,

Jon Romano