STUDENT WINS FIGHT TO DISPLAY CONFEDERATE FLAG IN DORM ROOM

[Danno 1,228]

A college student has won the fight to keep a Confederate flag in his dorm room after school officials initially told him to take it down.

The University of South Carolina Beaufort told 19-year-old Byron Thomas on Thursday he could keep the flag up, after the freshman was told two weeks ago to remove it because of student complaints.

University spokeswoman Candace Brasseur told the Beaufort Gazette Thomas was initially asked to remove the flag because it violates a student code of conduct discouraging bigotry, but the school’s legal counsel ultimately advised the university to allow him to display the flag.

When he was first told in November to take the flag down, Thomas posted a four-minute video on YouTube saying he views the Confederate flag as a sign of Southern pride, not of racism, and was not going to remove it. The video was re-posted on CNN’s iReport, where it has been viewed more than 70,000 times.

“It’s not racist for me,” Thomas, a Georgia native, said in the video. “All it is is a symbol that I see as a sign of respect, and people don’t want to see it that way.”

Before the school relented, Thomas said he felt his First Amendment rights were being violated, and said he considered legal action if he was not allowed to display the flag.

A class project made him come to the realization that the flag’s real meaning has been hijacked, he told the Associated Press in an interview. He said he wants people to carefully consider issues of race and not just have knee-jerk reactions to symbols.

“When I look at this flag, I don’t see racism. I see respect, Southern pride,” he told the AP. “This flag was seen as a communication symbol” during the Civil War.

Thomas said he also dislikes the term “African American” because it makes him feel like a half-citizen.

“I was not born in Africa, I was born in Augusta, Georgia,” he said in the video.

Thomas said he’s received a huge outpouring of support since the ordeal began.

“I’ve been getting a lot of support from people. My generation is interested in freedom of speech,” Thomas said.

He said he talked to his parents — who grew up amid the Civil Rights movement — once the uproar started and said they weren’t happy about his decision to display it, though that probably won’t keep him from putting it up again.

“I don’t want to make my parents mad,” he said. “I may wait until Monday to put it up.”

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

[Misha & Ira 113]

[daryl&lada 8]

He said he talked to his parents — who grew up amid the Civil Rights movement — once the uproar started and said they weren’t happy about his decision to display it, though that probably won’t keep him from putting it up again.

“I don’t want to make my parents mad,” he said. “I may wait until Monday to put it up.”

[Neonred 3,636]

I graduated from The University of South Carolina in Columbia, and back in my day the confederate flag flew above the Capitol building right below the American flag. I believe it now flies on a separate pole along side the Capitol.

Edited December 4, 2011 by Neonred

[Dakine10 5,452]

He said he wants people to carefully consider issues of race and not just have knee-jerk reactions to symbols.

Sounds like a wise young man.

[slim 1,530]

Everybody read this story saying how dare he display this.... oh, wait a minute.... uh..... he's black. Uh.... what am I supposed to.... uh..... wait a minute... uh.... so... uh.....

Where are all the VJ progressives on this one? Where are all the free speechers?

I'm sure this young man's had several affairs with co-workers and harrassed fellow students so he'll end up "suspending" his flag-flying in the next few weeks. Don't worry. Just wait it out.

[Danno 1,228]

What I find so interesting is that places of higher learning which used to be the cradle of ideas and free thought would try to stop a student from putting up a simple flag in own room.

Apparently this student is not alone in his Southern pride.

[The_Dude 1,142]

I graduated from The University of South Carolina in Columbia, and back in my day the confederate flag flew above the Capitol building right below the American flag. I believe it now flies on a separate pole along side the Capitol.

That flag was still there when I graduated from Clemson. I think that flag has a different meaning for different people. When I was in university, it this same topic was being argued. There was one student who hung a flag that was referred to as a Nu-South Flag, which was a confederate flag, with the traditional colors replaced with green, red and black. That got a lot of people angry, but in the end, he was allowed to keep it, but everyone was told not to fly any flags outside.