Janine Rouson: A flag not worth honoring

I can relate to the July 28 Point of View “Our vulnerable black bodies” by Roxane Gay.

For several decades, many in the black community talked about the hazard of “driving while black” because, like the writer’s brother, it has been a regular occurrence for a very long time. What’s unfortunate is that this disorder has spread so virally to “walking while black” or “eating Skittles while black” and many other variations.

Gov. Pat McCrory is taking the easy road by saying the N.C. legislature should outlaw the Confederate flag license plates, all while signing a totally unnecessary bill to require state approval before any local municipalities can remove monuments to a bad era in our state or nation’s history. Very disappointing.

I saw a headline recently proclaiming, “the Confederate flag has become a symbol of racism.” Let’s be very clear to McCrory and all those who really are distorting historical facts. The Confederate flag has always been and forever will be a symbol of racism.

Confederacy was created to continue slavery of black people due to their skin color. States joined the Confederacy knowing that fact. Can’t change that now. That’s no nostalgia or heritage worth honoring.

This story was originally published August 6, 2015 at 5:11 PM with the headline "Janine Rouson: A flag not worth honoring."