The connection of the Confederate Battle Flag with the murders of nine church members in South Carolina has prompted the National Park Service to end sales of the flag in gift shops and bookstores located inside parks.
“We strive to tell the complete story of America,” Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said of the agency’s reputation for telling difficult parts of our history. “All sales items in parks are evaluated based on educational value and their connection to the park. Any stand-alone depictions of Confederate flags have no place in park stores.”
In a news release the director said the murders of nine church members at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, which is near Fort Sumter National Monument, galvanized a national discussion that includes symbols and relics from our nation’s past such as the Confederate Battle Flag. A manifesto linked to the suspect in the case included photos of himself with versions of the Confederate flag.
“As that discussion spread across the country,” Director Jarvis said, “one of our largest cooperating associations, Eastern National, began to voluntarily remove from the park stores that it manages any items that depict a Confederate flag as its primary feature. I’ve asked other cooperating associations, partners and concession providers to withdraw from sale items that solely depict a Confederate flag.”
In the telling of the historical story, Confederate flags have a place in books, exhibits, reenactments, and interpretive programs, the Park Service said. Books, DVDs, and other educational and interpretive media where the Confederate flag image is depicted in its historical context may remain as sales items as long as the image cannot be physically detached. Confederate flags include the Stainless Banner, the Third National Confederate Flag, and the Confederate Battle Flag.
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Comments
What position which party has taken over the years has shifted frequently. A little bit of self-aware introspection - stop well short of "guilt complex" by all means - on racial issues would be enlightening for the right wing. I suggest it.
'What position which party has taken over the years has shifted frequently.'
Really? When did the Republican party endorse a racist platform?
"Are you aware that the Confederate flag was not flown in Carolina or on other state flags until the 1960's."
False, Georgia had the Stars and Bars on their state flag in 1956 and people in the South have been flying the flag and putting stickers on their cars for a hundred plus years. Some may do it because they are racists but most do it because of their Southern pride and strong belief in states' rights.
Should we ban the rainbow flag because some Christians might be offended by it? Of course not.
Oh, and Mississippi has had the Stars and Bars on the flag since 1894. You should do a little research before you believe and recite everything you read on the internet.
Sorry, my confederate flag information came from a Fox News broadcast. Now, that's what I REALLY shouldn't believe. But I was being held prisoner in a waiting room while my truck was in for service.
I'll repent and will try even harder to disregard anything I see on Fox. I do know better.
Again, a sincere apology for succumbing to some of Fox's propaganda.
Half answers.
Belief in 'states rights'. Which states rights were they in favor of? The right to own slaves
When did the stars and bars flag get raised in South Carolina? Curiously times to be middle finger raised in response to the civil rights movement of the 1960's.
Lee, you are still having that comprehension problem. I believe I saw the same story and they were talking specifically about South Carolina. In 1962 a Democrat governor, the party of the KKK and Jim Crow laws, put the flag over the Capital building, then a Republican governor in 1998 moved it to the State's grounds, and finally another Republican governor removed it entirely.
The intolerance, revisionist, and dishonesty of the left is quite amazing...
Dumb, you are putting words in that were not written. Nowhere was there any mention of political parties. Who did it is not important. Only fact that it happened counts. Now go back and re-read my first post.
The intolerance, revisionist, and dishonesty of the right and left extremes is quite amazing. Where is the reasonable middle ground that might actually be able to find solutions to problems that beset us?
Neither the current Dem or Rep parties bear any resemblance to what they were in the 50's and 60's. Heck, as often as politicians on both sides flip and flop, they don't even resemble what they were last week.