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View Winners → Governor signs ban of Confederate flag into law
Arcadia Weekly Oct 02, 2014
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By Jennifer Schlueter
Because the Confederate states, which favored slavery, promoted the Confederate flag during the Civil War, it is to many a sign of racism rather than Southern pride. When the mother of State Assemblyman Isador Hall, D-Compton, spotted imitation Confederate money featuring the Confederate flag at the Capitol gift shop in Sacramento, her son decided to introduce bill AB 2444, with which he wants to “fend off the ugly hatred of racism.” The legislation, which prohibits “state agencies from selling or displaying items bearing the Confederate flag,” according to Al Jazeera, was signed into law last Thursday by Governor Jerry Brown. For Hall and others, the flag symbolizes racism, hatred, and is meant to intimidate.
In August, the California State Assembly supported the law 66-1 proving to Hall that legislators were “standing together united to fend off the ugly hatred of racism that’s been portrayed and demonstrated through the emblem of the Confederacy.”
Republican Tim Donnelly told the Los Angeles Times that because he is a “strict Constitutionalist,” he sees the law interfering with the right to free speech.
Al Jazeera reported that “other lawmakers argued that the legislation does not violate free-speech rights because it only applies to formal actions of government officials and agencies. Moreover, the law allows for the flag to be used for historical or educational purposes and does not apply to people on state property.”
John McWorther of the Daily Beast believes that there are more important steps to take against racism than banning the Confederate flag, for example, addressing the issue of police brutality against African-Americans: “When we talk about ‘fending off’ racism, we need to fend off the kind of thing that happened to people like Michael Brown, John Crawford, Eric Garner, and Ezell Ford all within the past month’s time. Make an America where this sort of thing isn’t routine, and maybe then we can get to worrying our heads over flags. And yet, even then, I highly suspect most of us wouldn’t really even feel the need to bother.”
