To the people who support the Confederate flag,

When you hang a Confederate flag or wear it, or whatever it may be, I ask you - what is it that you see? Is it a symbol for the white world that you long that will return? Or maybe it's your country roots or some rebel pride?

Is it possible that you really are just proud of the South and that you don’t have a racist thought in your mind? Regardless of what the real history of the flag may be, there is no doubt in what the symbol has come to be. It shows a division, a line, and a disturbing cause. Sure, the South wanted states’ rights, but that wasn’t all. It also pushed to keep slavery and for that, I can never be okay with it. When you look at that flag, that may be something you overlook. But for me, as a half black woman, I just can’t and I won’t.

When I look at that blue "X" lying on the white stars, I see a country at war.

I see the sweat and the blood spilled on our very own soil.

I see enslaved men and women being whipped, raped, and murdered.

I see people of darker skin being treated like nothing close to human.

I see a nation that was wrong and a history I am ashamed of.

But I also see a shift that was made when the North fought to right the wrong.

When I see the Confederate flag, I see the side that lost.

And because of the lost, I see what the United States has gained.

I see the freedom and rights of people of all colors.

Although our country is far from perfect, it progresses as time moves along. And it would’ve been a slower start if the flag that you are so proud of became our nation’s symbol. It is a free country, after all, and you have the right to hang that flag. But it is a free country, so I also have the right to not respect your flag.

So for the people who support the Confederate flag and say it is for reasons like southern pride, that is your take. But when I see the Confederate flag, I will forever see the wrong side.