Look away from Dixie flag

Take down the Confederate battle flag

It's been 150 years since the end of the Civil War and we're finally getting rid of the last symbol of that conflict.

What took so long?

Well, racism.

It would take 100 years after 1865 to finally give African-Americans the real right to vote or even to be served in a white establishment in the South.

In fact, for decades after the Civil War, the former slaves merely had second-class status, at best, in American society.

When the federal government finally intervened in the 1950s-60s, southern states suddenly found their "heritage" in the Confederate battle flag and proudly flew it at their capitols. Mississippi still incorporates the battle flag in its official state flag. It's aggravating that this Mississippi flag flies, with all the other state flags, at Oregon's capitol in Salem.

The southern "heritage," through the display of the Confederate flag, deifies the rebels, who should be regarded as traitors and terrorists.

The Confederate battle flag is nothing more than a symbol of our original sin as a nation. It represents  slavery, evil, hatred, racism, lynchings and now, sadly, mass murder at a South Carolina church.

Yes, it is the equivalent of the swastika flag in Germany.

Amazingly, Mitt Romney came out against the Confederate flag. Even more shocking, the South Carolina governor, evidently ignorant of the death threats she would receive, called for the flag to be taken down from the capitol grounds. Even Walmart, no stranger to racism, along with Amazon, now refuse to sell the flag in any form.

Yes, the times they are a-changing.

It was also stunning last week that the Supreme Court, with Clarence Thomas providing the fifth vote, defended the state of Texas in denying the placement of the Confederate battle flag on a state-issued license plate.

This doesn't mean that any pathetic yokel can't plaster a Confederate flag on his pickup truck.

No, any American can still display their ignorance and racism by adorning almost anything with the Confederate flag.

Comedian John Oliver, a Brit, had one of the best slams against such folks:

"The Confederate flag is one of those symbols that should really only be seen on T-shirts, belt buckles and bumper stickers to help the rest of us identify the worst people in the world."

Unfortunately, we still have way too many of these people in America.

Racism still plagues this country as evidenced by the reaction to Barack Obama's presidency.

We do not need to fan the flames of racism by allowing any government entity in this country to fly the Confederate flag.

Take it down and put it in a museum, where it belongs.