Studer Community Institute

Confederate flags coming down in Pensacola

June 25, 2015
/ Reggie Dogan
/ community-dashboard

The Confederate Flag will no longer fly over city facilities in Pensacola. Mayor Ashton Hayward directed city staff to take down all the Confederate flags represented among the City of Five Flags display “Today, I directed city staff to remove the Confederate Flag for display at all City of Pensacola facilities and to fly in its place the flag of the State of Florida,” the mayor said. “While the Confederate Flag undeniably represents a part of Pensacola’s history, to many it is a painful symbol of racial hatred and intolerance. I proudly celebrate our great city’s rich history, but I do not believe that we are defined by our history alone. We will always be the City of Five Flags — but now is the time for us to turn our focus to our city’s bright future. Confederate flags fluttering at Osceola Golf Course, City Hall, Five Flags Park and the U.S. Post Office on Palafox Street will be removed and replaced with the state flag. Rick Outzen, owner and publisher of the Independent News, this week on his website and BlabTV's The Daily Brew, announced a petition to take down the Confederate Flag in Pensacola. In "Take Down Confederate Flag, Pensacola," Outzen said: "Mayor Ashton Hayward should remove the Confederate flag from city of Pensacola property. Symbols of hate and division have no place in our government. It's time to stand up for what's right and take down the Confederate flag!" Pensacola joins several cities and states across the nation in removing the Southern flag as a result of the shooting deaths of nine people in a historically African-American church in Charleston, S.C. last week. The alleged gunman used the Confederate flag as a symbol of Southern pride and his hatred for blacks, Jews and Hispanics. For decades, both the city and Escambia County flew the widely recognized version of the Confederate flag, known as the “rebel flag,” or “Dixie flag.” Although it never historically represented the Confederate States of America, it was the adopted battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. Over time, it became a racially charged symbol, associated with white Southern defiance in the face of desegregation orders. In 2000, the City of Pensacola replaced it with what historians call the true “Stars and Bars.” It was the Confederacy’s original national flag. City leaders felt the historically accurate emblem better reflected Pensacola’s Southern heritage and wasn’t a symbol that created conflict. Escambia Commissioners voted at the time to keep the battle flag. Every “five flags” display in the city flew the “Stars and Bars,” including the one at the Pensacola Bay Center, which is county-owned property. Earlier this year Escambia County commissioners, after a contentious decision to remove the "dixie flag" from county properties, voted to keep the five flag display consistent with the historic display used by the City of Pensacola, one that includes the National Confederate flag. County Administrator Jack Brown ordered county staff to follow the flag display the City uses in county displays. At Thursday's commission meeting, Commissioner Lumon May spoke of wanting to have a discussion at a future meeting to remove any version of a Confederate flag from county property and display only the State of Florida flag and the U.S. flag. With Commissioner Grover Robinson IV absent from Thursday meeting, commissioners came to consensus to discuss that matter at their July meeting when all five of them were present. Here's a link to their conversation.

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Confederate flags coming down in Pensacola

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