Lexington, Virginia is causing a storm of controversy over the way it is celebrating Lee-Jackson Day. The local Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter, asked the city to put up Confederate flags on Monday prior to Lee-Jackson Day and leave them up until next Monday — Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The city council said no, but has agreed to put the flags up for the week prior to MLK Day. Brandon Dorsey is the leader of the local group, and says no one should be offended.
“I don’t see it as a symbol of racism. I know that some people feel that way, but to us we don’t consider that, we don’t consider that they should I guess is what I should say,” Dorsey said.
Jon Ellestad, city manager, says that a lot of thought went into the decision to allow the flags to hang this week.
Ellestad may not be bothered by it, but citizens like Anna Browdsky are. Browdsky is a teacher at a local school and she doesn’t think the flags should be up at all. She says its embarrassing to stand before her students in a town that allows such a thing to happen.
“There is certainly a sense that for a lot of people it means discrimination, injustice and it symbolizes slavery,” Browdsky said.