The Black Panthers accepted the Young Americans’ Confederate Flag as “Heritage, Not Hate”

Symbols take on meanings that their creators never expect. Brutal Romans never thought Christians would adopt the cross. Peaceful Hindus and Native Americans never thought Nazis would adopt the swastika. The US flag represents home to some and terrorism to others—and so does the Confederate flag.

Let me be as clear as I can be: Confederate flags were created as symbols of opposition to the United States government that were used by people who wanted to create a state where slavery would last forever. The Confederate flag should not have a place of respect on any federal or state land. It was the flag of racists and traitors.

But at the same time, you should never assume the people who say they see the Confederate flag as “heritage, not hate” are lying. After the Confederacy fell, its battle flag became a symbol of rebellion for many, and a symbol for the entire region of Dixie for others—like the Young Patriots, a group that formed in the 1960s in Chicago’s “Hillbilly Harlem” neighborhood, Uptown. Their mission was to fight racism and fascism. Their symbol was the Confederate flag. “The Panthers and the Patriots” tells what happened:

In the fall of 1968, a Methodist church invited the Young Patriots to give a presentation about their work…