The Confederate flag is down at the South Carolina capital, but you don’t have to look far to find it here in Central Virginia.
Dozens of trucks, cars and bikes drove through several localities – all of them supporting the controversial symbol.
“I’ve got my friends out here, we come out here today just to show our pride,” said flag supporter Jonathan Davis.
Engines revved in Petersburg where the flag run began. Flying above them, a symbol that’s caused a heated debate in recent weeks after the mass killings of nine African Americans inside a Charleston church.
“We want to show that one person’s actions do not represent all of us in the south,” said Jerry Dyson, who called the shooter Dylann Roof’s action intolerable. “Not all southerners are like that. It’s not a white thing; it’s a blood thing.”
For many, the flag conjures the thoughts of the KKK, Jim Crow and the crack of a whip.
“Is it used racially, yeah, but they’re misinterpreting the rest of us. It’s not fair,” claims Amber Williams. “It’s very hard when people use it as a tool of hatred. We disagree with that.”
During Saturday’s flag run, organized by 804 Flyers and 804 Lifted, supporters call it a symbol of regional pride, meant not to divide but to unite.
“No one can take the flag away from us,” Dyson added. “You cannot take it out of our yards, houses, vehicles, out of our hands. That’s freedom of speech.”
A freedom Dyson and hundreds of others took on the road through Petersburg, Dinwiddie and Hopewell. The flag run ended in Chester, but many say they plan to keep their stars and bars flying.
