Gibson County High School senior Texanna Edwards was — like many of her classmates — looking forward to her prom this past Saturday.

But Edwards didn’t get to attend because of her attire — a knee-length red dress decorated with bright blue stripes and white stars inside the stripes. The school’s colors are red, white and blue, but the dress resembles the controversial Confederate battle flag.

Edwards, 18, said she wasn’t allowed inside the prom after school officials told her the dress was “offensive and inappropriate.”

Now, I can’t really speak to this confederate flag business. I grew up on the east coast and all it’s ever looked like to me was an expression of the flag-bearer’s burning desire for the south to rise again. I recognize that fans of the confederate flag view it as a way of expressing their pride in their heritage. The issues arise when you take a close look at what that heritage is comprised of … which is where Texanna’s problem comes in. 

“We asked why they thought that, but they kept saying the same thing over and over,” she said in an interview Monday. “We kept asking people walking inside — black and white — and everyone said they loved it. Two black women even went off on the principal. They were upset with the principal. No one was upset with me.”

Gotta say, this quote doesn’t make me feel any better about the flag, it’s fans or Texanna herself. “But my black friends don’t mind!” is the first thing a racist say when defending their racist feelings, words or actions. I’m not saying it’s intentional, but I am saying that intent doesn’t matter. If she’s using testimonials from a few black people to excuse it then she knows exactly what’s wrong with it.

(Source: newser.com)