We reported that confederate flag sales increased after the Charlottesville rally, but if you think those sales are limited to the South (where the country the flag represents once was), we've got something to tell you!
WNYC recently went scouting for Confederate States of America flag owners living in the North after receiving over 200 reports of flags proudly flying all over New York — from the East Village in Manhattan to Plattsburgh near the Canadian border.
As you might expect for that number, WNYC found a lot of owners, and talked to several to unpack why exactly they fly the rebel flag.
Some of the Confederate enthusiasts assured the station that they weren't "racist."
One of these self-described "non-racist" people likened flying the rebel flag to flying "a Black Lives matter flag," which to them represents black people "pushing back on the white people."
During the station's interview with one CSA flag-flying white couple, the couple waved over a black teenager, and asked him in front of the reporter if he thought the flag was racist.
The teen said, "Yeah, it is offensive to me. This is the flag of people who want to bring slavery back," shocking the white couple.
Another man who flies the rebel flag, a farmer named Tim, had another reason for his love of the CSA.
"It's kind of a sign of, we seceded once and maybe in New York state we should secede again," said Tim. "I think that New York state needs to break away from New York City. New York City has separate needs from here, it's a separate world, and upstate New York could be a very great place to live. Right now in the situation it is, we're talking about moving down South to a better tax state. And the North isn't for us anymore. And we kind of long to be down South."
Another woman the station talked to, Judy, was upset by the fact that her son Tristan has hung a CSA flag up in his bedroom, stating that she didn't agree with it. She claimed he had "a wide variety of ethnic friends," but that he believed races shouldn't mix romantically.
Judy said she isn't sure what to do about her son, admitting that she has been "left with more questions than answers."
"If I had a friend who displayed the flag, I would not tolerate it at all. I would not be kind or compassionate. I wonder what this means about me. I ultimately feel helpless," she noted. "Can I change his ways of thinking? Can I handle that responsibility? Are occasional, brief conversations over coffee enough to inspire informed insight into his mind and heart?"
New York had its fair share of CSA sympathizers during the war. Adam McGovern, a semiotics expert, believes it isn't history that has so many New Yorkers embracing the Stars and Bars.
"Rural America and non-urban America is kind of like a nationality now, it's a very different culture," McGovern said. "And I think the Confederate flag is a symbol of that other, economically-depressed, culturally-disfavored America."
