I absolutely detest the Confederate flag.
When I see it flying on someone’s vehicle, as a patch of clothing, or on a bumper sticker, I have a visceral reaction.
Anger, rage, contempt.
I feel the display tells me all I need to know about the person displaying it.
And more than I want to know about their feelings about me.
I am inferior to them.
They have the right to own me like property.
Even with my considerable temper,
When eyeing one of the most detestable symbols in existence,
As the red-hot loathing and disgust boils inside of me,
I’ve never once contemplated killing someone who was displaying a Confederate flag.
But a woman with nine children was just killed in California for displaying a Pride flag.
A flag that, regardless of your feelings about it, does not symbolize chattel slavery.
Or any kind of oppression.
Or any manner of hatred.
Nor does it represent any contempt for anyone anywhere.
It represents allyship.
It affirms the right of those it represents to be treated like everyone else.
Some flags and some banners that are lifted, when you lift them, it means you believe others are lesser than yourself.
That’s what is conveyed when displaying the Confederacy flag, the Swastika, or other like-minded symbols.
But the Pride flag, the rainbow flag, seeks to convey that the LGBTQIA+ community are human beings.
Human beings who have the right to live in peace, not under oppression or threats of violence or discrimination.
One type of flag means “I hate you.”
Another type of flag means “I not only don’t hate you, but I affirm your right to live.”
A husband has lost his wife.
Nine children have lost their mother.
Over a flag.
One would like to think that symbols aren’t worth murder, but even before the death of Lauri Carleton, we knew that wasn’t true.
Allyship isn’t easy.
It comes with a price.
Lauri Carleton paid dearly.
Her family is paying dearly.
But hatred has a price as well.
Her murderer, a young man in his twenties, decided to shoot it out with police.
He is also dead.
Everything has a price.
Everything has a cost.
Loving and supporting the oppressed has a cost.
Hating and oppressing others has a cost.
The only question worth asking is:
Which price are each of us willing to pay?
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