Fresh from Chicago, I attended a high-school in Richmond, Virginia, the Capital of the Confederacy.  In that school, students abused a teacher because he was gay; the teacher quit.  Since I was Jewish, one student told me to return to Israel, though I hadn’t come from there. A boy slammed the door in my face saying he doesn’t open the door for Jews.

     Small wonder that this school had ties to the Confederacy. The school mascot used to be a Confederate soldier. There is a slave cemetery behind the school. And the founder – Douglas S. Freeman – was pro Confederate. He was an editor, author, and historian. On his way to work everyday,  he would give a salute to the Robert E. Lee statue.  The school also has a Confederate flag that is on a six foot-pole in front of the school. This flag is the oldest version of the Confederate flag, created in 1861.  I never knew it was a Confederate flag, since it looks different from the well known version. It’s more  like the classic American flag – only with one star on a blue background with two red stripes  and one white stripe, while the American flag has 50 stars and 13 red-and-white stripes. 

       For some reason, my school retained the flag that has been there since 1954. On June, 12, 2020,  100 students came to the school and peacefully protested against the flag for a day.

      I think my school put up the Confederate flag to commemorate Richmond’s history and out of respect for the soldiers who fought for the South in the Civil War. I think it should be removed because it represents slavery, suffering, and cruelty.

    To date, the flag is still there.