I went camping for the first time last weekend.  We went to Pennsylvania where hubby used to go for an annual mountain biking weekend.  I had a blast.  I did so well on more advanced (for me, at least) trails, it was hot as hell, and we swam in the lake to cool off after the rides or hikes.

There was one thing ...

Confederate flags.  The first ones were a couple of houses in a row on the way to a mine.  Some stickers on cars.  The same stuff I see at home or anywhere a bit away from the NYC metro area.  Then we went to the lake for a swim.  I saw a man with his family.  He was wearing confederate flag swim trunks.  The right leg was blue with the word "rebel" in white.  The left leg was the confederate flag.  OK.  That's not appealing.  Then they family goes in the water.  And there are not just white people in the water.  There are mixed couples and their children.  There are black and brown people all over the place.  Confeddy daddy sticks with his family.  Then we see it.  A black teenager with three younger, slightly lighter skinned kids are in the water about fifty feet from Confeddy daddy.  And they are doing what everyone else is doing - swimming, relaxing, having fun.  Then it happens.  The teenager and the three boys start meandering closer.... closer.... closer to Confeddy daddy.  And hubby and I watch.  We see the man's body language change.  He can't look.  He is clearly uncomfortable.  Then he seems agitated as the four youngsters are closer.  Mind you, they were doing nothing wrong or intrusive at all.  Just moving around like so many others.  But they were not white.  And that clearly bothered Confeddy daddy.  It begins to look a heck of a lot like the teenager knew exactly what he was doing.  And hubby and I loved it all.  We were silently cheering the young man on.  Eventually, Confeddy daddy moves halfway across the swimming area to - you guessed it - an area with all white people.  

I kept thinking about this all day.  Pennsylvania is north of the Mason-Dixon line.  As is the state I live in.  So why do I see so many confederate flags?  After a summer of doing a lot of reading and dealing with some political volunteering, here's what I think.  I believe that if the swastika was not so forbidden, we would be seeing an awful lot of that along with the confederate flags.  This is because I think the use of the flag is not due to some Southern pride.  When you have little to no roots down south, that excuse does not wash with me.  I see so much hatred and racism from the flag bearers. Basically, the flag can be cloaked in the "pride" excuse, when it really symbolizes hatred.  When you scratch the surface of beliefs of the flag bearers, you find out there are problematic beliefs that go hand-in-hand with all of the racist history and associations of that flag.  There is no way in hell anyone could get away with displaying a swastika or any other symbol used by the Nazis.  However, that flag is an easy way to say the same thing.  

So why bother with this thinking and analyzing?  I do not allow myself to be friends with racists or homophobes.  But I cannot help the fact that I do get some as students.  And considering the type of climate we have during this election year, I anticipate having to deal with the display of this flag.  I have read a couple of articles with advice and arguments dealing with how schools can address it.  That does not mean it will make it any easier.  You see, there is that little freedom of speech argument that gets brought up when someone is told the display of the flag is not appropriate or allowed.  Yet, that symbol of oppression is not seen as a something that stifles the freedoms of a whole race of people.  My classroom is a place of freedom and I never allow hate speech.  I address it the moment it pops up.  How do I deal with symbols of hate that people claim are about nothing but pride?  I anticipate a long couple of months this fall.