If you think taking down a flag can address the systemic oppression of people of color, have at it, but BOY DO YOU HAVE THE WRONG FLAG.

The “Confederate flag” flies over civil war memorial cemeteries and gravestones across America. Veteran and veteran-lovers cling to the notion that soldiers don’t give their lives in vain, so they are honored by the flag they fought for, in half the cases, the Confederate States. The Confederacy is as defunct as the sovereign nation of Texas, or the Third Reich for that matter, whose flags and insignia retain a similar appeal, often to the same demographic. Even if we pretend the Rebel flag represented the half of the US which defended slavery, it is not the standard that flew over the slave ships or plantations, or Charleston Bay for that matter, for the hundreds of years before the 1861-65 War of Rebellion. Those flags were many and international but it’s safe to say that the nationalist flag that most symbolizes Western racist imperialism is the American Red, White and Blue.

Who presided over the retention of slavery, over segregation, over lynching, over genocide, over the continued suppression of African American empowerment? Whose flag assailed the Native Americans, crossed the Pacific, and hasn’t stopped yet? To address America’s ingrained racism, take THAT flag down!

There’s an easy fix for our country’s Civil War graves and memorials. Replace the rebel flags with the “Stars and Bars” the authentic flag of the Confederate States. It has none of the white klan cache. As for the mistakenly iconic “Battle Flag”, BURN IT! If that offends Southerners, too bad, but have some empathy, you’re probably clinging to the Stars and Stripes with the same unbecoming nostalgia.