Readers Blog: Naivety at the heart of Confederate flag furore

Naivety is at the heart of the furore about Cork fans bringing the

This is not a sports issue: It’s a political issue. Cork County Board chairman Ger Lane is to be commended for emphasising the need to educate those who want to associate our

leading athletes with this vile symbol of racist oppression.

Corkonians revel in their rebel identity. Fair play.

But it is naive in the extreme to say “we’re rebels, they’re rebels, and it’s just a nice red flag”.

The independent-mindedness of Corkonians is a badge of honour. The Confederate flag, by contrast, is a badge of dishonour, attempting to justify slavery. No one is going to turn up at Páirc Uí Chaoimh flying a bright red Nazi flag bedecked with swastikas. The innocent or perverse minority needs to be shown that to fly the

Confederate flag is equally heinous.

I’m sure the origins of this habit are perfectly innocent.

Sports fans often have a touching naivety in their passion. But once you know the significance of the flag, the scales have to drop from your eyes. If you know you are wrong and continue with your behaviour, you are being

deliberately offensive.

It is a non-argument to say ‘PC gone mad’. However tightly you squeeze your eyes shut to avoid the fact that we live in a complex, political world, simplistic answers only perpetuate the problem.

Racism is not a party trick. Put away the flags of hatred.

Brendan Mulcahy

Kingfisher Court

London/Cork