Why is the Confederate flag considered racist?
THE Confederate flag was used to represent the Confederacy during the Civil War and is now seen as a symbol of the oppression of civil rights.
The flag was initially designed to signify a divided nation.
What did the Confederate flag stand for?
, beginning on April 12, 1861, and ending on April 9, 1865 was fought between the United States of America and the Confederate States of America.
in the North between 1860-61, establishing their own government and conducting their way of life separately.
It went through three iterations before it came to be the one we recognize today that features a red banner, a blue St Andrew's cross, and 13 white stars that represent the Confederate states.
It was flown by several Confederate armies, including that lead by Robert E. Lee, who fought to protect slavery as an institution.
Following a mass shooting where white supremacist Dylan Roof murdered nine Black Americans during an evening bible study in a South Carolina church, Haley deemed that the flag had been "hijacked," and it was removed from the South Carolina statehouse ground permanently.
A poll by YouGov asked 34,000 Americans whether they thought the Confederate flag represented racism or heritage.
The results showed 41 percent of Americans consider the Confederate flag to represent racism.
For 31 percent of Americans, however - particularly adults that live in rural communities, non-college-educated white Americans and adults over 65 - the flag represents heritage.
In 2016, after the US House banned Confederate flags being flown at war veteran cemeteries, many major retailers like Sears, WalMart, and eBay followed suit and stopped selling the flag.