Judy Sinclair’s letter regarding the Confederate flag is confusing for several reasons. Why would she write a letter to the Bladen Journal complaining about what The Fayetteville Observer chose to print? That’s kind of like complaining to Melvin’s about Red Robin’s burgers.

I read Myron Pitts’ column, and he clearly acknowledged the right for the flag to be flown, as did others he interviewed for the column. He wondered about the motives of the group, but did not question their right to display it. His column very clearly identified the group responsible for the display, but did not identify an individual land owner as the installer of the flag.

People like Judy Sinclair want to claim that the Confederate flag, no matter which version, has nothing to do with racism and is just a symbol of Southern heritage. However, that was not what the flag symbolized and there is no better reference to what the flag stands for than the words of the man who designed it.

The designer of the Confederacy’s flags was William T. Thompson. On the day the flag’s design was first revealed, Thompson gave a speech in which he said, “As a people we are fighting to maintain the heavenly ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race” and predicted the Confederate flag “would soon take rank among the proudest ensigns of the nations, and be hailed by the civilized world as THE WHITE MAN’S FLAG.”

The man who designed the flag proudly proclaimed it to be created specifically as “THE WHITE MAN’S FLAG”. That statement alone makes the flag undeserving of recognition as anything other than the racist symbol it was intended to be.

Like Judy Sinclair, I cannot fully understand the deep hurt caused by the disgrace of slavery and its most recognizable symbol. I acknowledge the right of anyone to display that racist symbol if they choose, but anyone who does so must acknowledge that they know the hurt and offense it causes. They display that flag either because they want to be hurtful and offensive or because they don’t care if they are.

Patricia Sheppard

Tar Heel