Update: CNN has now picked it up. Joe Finneran, the WHS alumnus who put the flag up, also made it on to CNN’s list of “Thursday’s Intriguing People”.
In response to humiliating news coverage from multiple New England news outlets, and perhaps in direct response to this editorial from the Boston Globe today, the Walpole School Department has now put in a professionally-made sign with a disclaimer in front of the Confederate flag that has been put up by a private resident next to Turco Field.
The School Department has done their part with the sign. The only way the citizen will take down his flag is through pressure from the public - especially students.
As a Walpole High School student myself, my impression is that the biggest reason why some students support the flag being up is because they misunderstand what the flag represents and they lack a proper understanding of American history. One student who I used to be good friends with actually verbally assaulted me today by saying that the flag represents nothing more than a group of states that wanted to secede. I am afraid that this student, who is actually very intelligent, is badly mistaken. This flag represents much more than that.
Perhaps the best way to indirectly lead to the flag’s removal would be to revamp our school’s Social Studies curriculum so that students are educated about what the flag symbolizes.
Here is a close up of the sign:
Photos Courtesy of The Walpole Rebellion
