Democrats in Pennsylvania are trying to erase history and stifle free speech by stealing then banning a historic flag on display for Flag Day.
Since late May, the Hanover Area Historical Society has been displaying The Clausen Historic Flag Collection in the Pennsylvania State Capitol to celebrate Flag Day. This exhibit features 50 handmade flags from different points in North American history.
Historic flags in the exhibit cover a vast range of history. Flags can be seen from the beginning of North American settlement with the Viking Ravens Flag and Christopher Columbus Flag, to more modern flags such as the Territory of Alaska’s flag and the current U.S. 50 Star Flag. The display includes historic flags from time periods in between– this includes flags from the turbulent Civil War era.
After two weeks on display, and the evening before a press conference to highlight the display and Flag Day, a Democrat Representative from Philadelphia, Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown, took it upon herself to remove the Confederate flag from the display. This prompted organizers to contact Capitol Police.
Why did Representative Brown steal the flag? According to CNS News:
“I just did what I thought was right and I took the flag down,” said Brown, who heads the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus.
She carried it into the chambers and gave it to the House speaker.
“We cannot continue to discount things that have happened in our government that have oppressed and have hurt people, have murdered people, have made people do things against their will,” Brown said.
Keep in mind that this is a historic, educational display. Yet Representative Brown wants to erase part of history because the, “…Confederate flag is a symbol of hate, murder and oppression.”
Facts and history don’t care about feelings. Removing a huge part of our nations history in order to protect the feelings of those who may be upset by the flag is teaching Americans to ignore and to not learn from our past. It is one situation to have a Confederate flag flying from your state capitol. But it is an entirely different story to have a Confederate flag displayed within the context of a historic flag exhibit to commemorate Flag Day.
The Confederate flag was returned to the Hanover Area Historical Society by Capitol Police, which should be the end of the story, right?
But the most liberal Governor in the United States, Governor Tom Wolf, was outraged by the flag as well, and quickly ordered it to be removed from the Capitol grounds. The Stars and Bars flag was also ordered to be removed.
Governor Wolf’s spokesman, Jeff Sheridan defended the Governors action:
“The governor believes the Confederate flag is a symbol of racism and hatred that has no place in this building or any state building,” Wolf spokesman Jeff Sheridan said, after the flags’ removal.
When asked about whether the flag belonged as part of a historical display, Sheridan said, “Pennsylvania wasn’t part of the Confederacy, so I’m not sure why that would be a symbol of a historical display in our building here in the Capitol.
“It should never have been in here in the first place,” he added.
…
Sheridan said the administration’s policy is that no Confederate flags should hang in the Capitol, but declined to comment on the issue of whether a flag given proper context would ever be appropriate. It’s an issue, he said, the governor would be willing to discuss with Brown.
Debra Markle, a historical society board member, did not take the situation lightly. She stated what every sane American would think in reference to this incident, “It’s part of American history.” She lamented the overly sensitized and politically correct culture that drove this issue. “We can’t sugarcoat everything,” Markle said. “And it’s just a shame that one person’s opinion has to ruin (the display) for so many. But it seems that’s the way it’s going in this country.”
Democrats in Pennsylvania, from State Representative to the Governor himself, want to coddle Pennsylvanians by suppressing free speech and removing historic artifacts that may make some uncomfortable. Regardless if the flag is continued to be displayed with the other historic flags or not, it does not change our nations past nor does it help our future to hide it.
Americans needs to learn about our nations history so that we do not repeat it. Banning history that makes people uncomfortable is a disservice to those who fought to end slavery and to those who finally had their God-given rights recognized by the U.S. government. When the rights of those who were enslaved were recognized, they had the right to free speech, just as those who created the historical flag display. Pennsylvania Democrats shouldn’t stifle historical free speech and should not ban historical artifacts from historical displays due to political correctness.
