[La Flama Blanca]

The Confederate Flag, as well as General Robert E. Lee is an aspect of my culture. I grew up in rural Virginia. Through my father, grandfather, and community, I have heard stories of the Civil War. I am an American. I had family on both sides of the war. I refuse to throw down my ancestors as racist traitors who deserve to never be displayed. My family did not own slaves. That is a fact. I do not know if my family fought solely to preserve slavery, or because they were against the perceived threat of a tyrannical government. That is unknown to me and I do not want anyone making assumptions, because you do not know either.

In regards to the removal of the flag due to hate crimes involving it, why do we not remove the American flag? From atrocities against the Native Americans to war-crimes during Vietnam, not to mention contemporary atrocities, we still maintain the flag? In the 1920s, the KKK launched its largest march on Washington. The flag flown was not the Confederate flag. You know what it was? The American flag. Why is the Union Jack still flown in the United Kingdom? Their colonial empire lead to many atrocities in the name of imperialism. The Japanese flag still has similar elements of its prior flag during the Japanese Empire. Why don't they remove the sun symbolism completely from their flag?


I don't very much like your association with my heritage to be only of racism. It offends me deeply. You don't even try to view this through my eyes. You stamp it down as bigotry and move on in a high and mighty attitude. Do you support the American flag? The flag attributed to tyrants? Flown by the KKK? Used while invading countless nations around the globe?

I'm not really interested in going into a debate about other flags because that's just a false equivalency argument, which I'm sure you'll learn about soon enough in college.

No one is asking you to "throw down my ancestors as racist traitors who deserve to never be displayed." You are fully aware that the flag and Lee are divisive symbols. You can put up as many statues of Lee or fly as many flags as you want in a private setting. But on this Discord, you represent the staff of this community. And that community includes more than a bunch of rural Virginians. It includes people of all races and ethnicities. And a majority of Americans find those symbols to represent hate and white supremacy. If you are going to represent this community, you need to be respectful of everyone.