Most can’t imagine hating something with such a passion that they would take a stand by stealing someone else’s property. Yet, at North Platte High School, there is such a vigilante, and he thinks his actions are justified. The debate is whether the Confederate flag is considered an icon of racism and slavery. The banner has not only been causing an uproar in our community, but also throughout America. The NPHS student wishes to remain unnamed because of the illegality of what he’s doing.  “Me and two other people were coming to a volleyball game, and there was a truck who was flying it. I reached out the window, grabbed it, and drove off.” He said he may eventually burn it because he thinks it’s a racist symbol.

Freshman Braydon Hanna said “The Confederate flag today is just represented as Southern pride… It doesn’t represent racism to me.” Junior Kayla Schmidt thinks the flag showcases our history. “Slavery was bad, but I don’t think we should hide it. We should own up to it.”  NPHS history teacher Jimmie Pack said, “It was a chapter of our history, but when I see people in Nebraska flying it out of their houses and pickups, it shows a certain level of ignorance.”

The Confederate emblem was originally Virginia’s Civil War battle flag and was one of several used said Pack. “There was no one Confederate flag because there were so many,” he said. According to Pack, Southerners had bad feelings from struggling during the Reconstruction era which led to the rise of groups like the Ku Klux Klan, who used the Confederate banner as one of their symbols.  The student who’s stealing the Southern cross flag said he has considered its affiliation with the KKK and neo-nazis.  “It has been used as a racist symbol, and that’s what I think of when I see it,” he said. “It [the flag] symbolizes a group of people who fought to keep blacks as slaves,” said Pack. “When I see someone flying it, they’re telling the world they believe in what the South fought for– racism and that they believe in treason.”

Hanna thinks people who believe the Dixie flag is about racism have the wrong idea. “My step-brother showed me the rebel flag. We have both always been kind of rebellious and had a lot of Southern pride,” he said.  Hanna said he supports his step-family’s southern roots. “There is meaning… a sign of tradition, values, and how you work,” he said.  Schmidt said she also sees the flag has a mark of Southern heritage, although she isn’t from the region. However, even the South is reconsidering its association the emblem.  Last July, South Carolina removed the flag from its capitol building. “Our rights are being taken; everyone should know what it was fought for [the Civil War],” Schmidt said.  “Most who hate the Confederate flag don’t know the history.”

Showing Southern pride is now harder to do.  This past summer, Wal-Mart, eBay, Sears and Amazon stopped selling Confederate flag merchandise.  Like the banner’s nickname, people are rebelling against the decision.  A Tupelo, Mississippi man is accused of bombing the local Wal-Mart on Sunday, November 1 because the store stopped selling Confederate flag items.  Schmidt said she would like a flag, but won’t be able to get one.  “I have it as my lock screen and Facebook profile picture,” she said; “I will not be politically correct in the eyes of the government.” Meanwhile, the student taking those Confederate flags said he will keep removing them. “During the civil rights movement, they had to…stand up for what they thought, even though they might get in trouble for it,” he said.