Confederate flags, yard ornament mar perfect outing

I took some friends paddling on the Kinchafoonee Creek south of Century Road over the weekend, and what should have been an entirely beautiful experience was marred by Confederate flags hanging from at least seven docks, and a black caricature yard ornament. I was ashamed, not least because I had been by there before and the flags hadn’t bothered me.

Whatever the motivation for displaying these symbols, the message they send to black people is “you don’t belong out here in nature.”

I’d like to think people in Lee County are more considerate than that, and I am asking homeowners along the Kinchafoonee to take down their Confederate flags and the lawn ornament.

Seth Bigelow

Leesburg