Obama Admin. Bans Confederate Flag At Federally Funded Cemeteries

Western Journalism – by Scott Mason

The Department of Veterans Affairs – under the umbrella of the Obama administration – has moved to ban prominent displays of the Confederate flag in cemeteries funded by federal tax dollars.

“Congress had debated and rejected that change, but the Obama administration decided to move forward anyway, saying it was unilaterally imposing the restrictions,” reported the Washington Times.  

The new policy was pushed most aggressively by Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., who had joined with several fellow Democrats to put pressure on the VA over the issue.

In a letter to the VA in early July, Huffman strongly encouraged the Department to act on the matter.

Ronald Walters, the interim undersecretary for memorial affairs, responded to Huffman’s letter on Friday, directly addressing the congressman’s concerns.

“We are aware of the concerns of those who wish to see Confederate flags removed from public venues because they are perceived by many as a symbol of racial intolerance,” he said.

He then explained that because of those concerns, the Veterans Affairs Department would be making changes.

“In particular, we will amend our policy to make clear that Confederate flags will not be displayed from any permanently fixed flagpole in a national cemetery at any time,” Walters said.

The new policy goes into effect later this year and states that cemeteries receiving federal funding cannot fly the Confederate flag on flagpoles or be prominently displayed.

In the past, select veteran cemeteries – mostly in the South – have flown the Confederate flag on some occasions such as Confederate Memorial Day.

Under the rule changes, private individuals or groups can still put smaller versions of the flag or its image on individual graves, but it must be done only with private funding.

Reacting to the news about the change in policy, Huffman spoke strongly against the flag and its supporters:

“While racist individuals and groups continue to embrace the Confederate battle flag, it has never been more clear that this anachronistic symbol of hatred, slavery, and insurrection should not be promoted or gratuitously displayed on federal property.”

He continued, “That’s why I am so grateful that the Department of Veterans Affairs responded to our letter and to public concerns and decided to prohibit the large-scale display of Confederate flags on our national veterans cemeteries.”

Critics of the ban have argued the flag is a part of American history and should be left to remember fallen Confederate soldiers.

“Those who are offended by the stars and bars need to study american history a little more. We should not be involved in hiding our history, but celebrate the lessons learned. It’s too bad that democrats are opposed to education,” posted one commenter on the Washington Times report.

“And thus…the administration dishonors American veterans … Confederates were declared American veterans,” wrote another.

Numerous state legislatures have voted to remove the Confederate flag from courthouses and other government buildings in the past, most notably in South Carolina last year following the church shooting by white supremacist Dylan Roof.

Western Journalism

6 thoughts on “Obama Admin. Bans Confederate Flag At Federally Funded Cemeteries

  1. How stupid to remove the Confederate flag. The Stars and Bars is a part of our past, a flag flown y men attempting to reclaim the liberty bequeathed us by the Founders. As anyone who has read the Kennedy brother’s book “The South Was right!” can tell you, there were ethnically “Hispanic” Texans and even blacks who fought for Dixie and liberty under the Confederate flag.
    Whether the Confederate flag is a racist symbol depends on the individual. If the Confederate flag is racist, then so would the America flag be racist.
    Now for the really un-P.C. part. If we had freed and deported all blacks, as Thomas Jefferson advocated in his 1780s book “Notes on the State of Virginia” -we would not be worrying about Confederate flags coming down or the “Black Lives Matter” movement becasue there would not be any non-whites here agitating against the (daily decreasing) white majority. .

  2. “Those who are offended by the stars and bars need to study american history a little more.”

    Unchallenged…

    … precipitated upon the premise that they study TRUE American history, not the bullsh#t & lies in the majority of the ‘history’ books out there.

    If they (ALL) did, you jewb#tch traitors would ALL be hung within a month!

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