Thank you to The Columbian for the article on the Confederate flag displayed along Interstate 5 in Ridgefield (“Jefferson Davis Park Confederate monument to remain,” July 7). After some of my own research, I concluded this flag stands for white supremacy and depriving Black people of rights. William T. Thompson, a newspaper editor and one of the flag’s designers, made clear this was his intention during the Civil War. The flag was later adopted by the Ku Klux Klan during the Jim Crow era, and was resurrected as a response to the civil rights movement in the 1950s.
I respect the owner’s First Amendment right to display the flag. However, if this symbol is going to fly over our county, let’s educate ourselves. It can serve to generate a discussion on racism in Clark County, and how what this flag represents conflicts with many of the values we hold sacred today.
