A column in the Washington Post today, though, shocked me a bit with the answers from a recent poll that showed more people think it appropriate for high school students to wear confederate flags to school than gay pride flags.
Ugh. Really? In 2013?
Jonathan Capeheart, who wrote the column, was actually doing a story on Sarah Palin’s new book and “went looking for poll numbers to illustrate her political irrelevance.”
He found those, too. But included in what he found were these interesting numbers:
Do you think high school students should be allowed to wear confederate flags to school, or not?
Think they should…………………………………….43%
Think they should not……………………………….37%
Not sure…………………………………………………..19%
Do you think high school students should be allowed to wear gay pride flags to school, or not?
Think they should…………………………………….28%
Think they should not……………………………….57%
Not sure ………………………………………………….15%
Do you think it’s more appropriate for high school students to wear gay pride flags or confederate flags to school?
Gay pride flags…………………………………………..9%
Confederate flags ………………………………………38%
Not sure …………………………………………………..52%
There were other, predictable, numbers included to let us know more about the people saying the confederate flag is more acceptable than the gay pride flag.
Would you describe yourself as very liberal, somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 2%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 3%
Moderate………………………………………………… 20%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 42%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 34%
If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 52%
Man……………………………………………………….. 48%
If you are 18 to 45 years old, press 1. If 46 to 65, press 2. If you are older than 65, press 3.
18 to 45………………………………………………….. 30%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 38%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 32%
The conservative people taking the poll outranked the liberals 76 percent to 5 percent, so I guess the answers are not surprising. No, that’s not true. This is really quite disturbing that so many people believe the confederate flag — which symbolizes nothing but racism, slavery and hate — is more acceptable than a rainbow that is a symbol of inclusion, hope and good old fashioned love, between people of the same sex or those who support us.
The rainbow flag is a happy flag. The confederate flag is reminder of a sad and horrific time in our history and should not be celebrated with teens wearing it emblazoned on their chest while they sit in an American History class. Our history, good and bad, should always be remembered. But please, let’s not have the socially conservatives dictate their obsolete fashion sense on the younger generation.
Of course, there are those who want to capitalize on both. Who knew.