A giant 20-by-30-foot Confederate flag was raised along a busy highway in North Carolina this weekend to commemorate July 4, and, despite some complaints, local officials say it can’t be done. nothing in regards.
The local WSOCTV network reports that the Sons of Confederate Veterans raised the flag on Friday on an 80-foot pole along Interstate 40. It marks one of several Confederate flags that have been raised in the area after the Governor Roy Cooper (D) announced in June that all Confederate monuments on state Capitol property would be removed.
“The Sons of Confederate Veterans, we are trying to replace the statue with flags, and we are trying to put them on the interstate so that more people can see it,” Elgie McGalliard told the local station. “Tear down our statues, and we are going to put a flag somewhere along the main interstate highways in North Carolina.”
The group said they were raising the large flag to commemorate the July 4 weekend and its heritage.
Some have already complained about the flags, but authorities say they are on private property and that there are no ordinances against them.
“I have had numerous contacts from people who say they would not do business in the city because of that flag,” Hildebran Mayor Wendell Hildebrand told WSOCTV.
He added that the $ 800 used to make the flag could have been “better used to help veterans.”
The action comes when Confederate monuments and statues have been torn down in cities across the country, and the flag has been banned on Defense Department properties and on NASCAR tracks in response to national protests against racism and brutality. Police.
.
