The debate, held by the UNC chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, invited members of the Black Student Movement, Students for the Advancement of Race Relations and the Duke University chapter of the NAACP. Other non-affiliated students were in the audience as well.
The NAACP held the event in an effort to educate students about the recent debate about the meaning of the Confederate flag -- racial hatred versus Southern heritage. "We want people to realize that the Confederate flag is still an issue," said NAACP President Ryan Wilson. "For me, and for the NAACP (at UNC), it is a symbol of racism."
Sophomore Ebonie Monique Hall, who led the debate, said the controversy reflects larger racial problems affecting society today. "The purpose is to inform other students on campus about the issues that face leaders of this country," she said. "We also want to inform students of the issues that are hindering race relations on this campus and in this country."
English Professor Mae Henderson, who moderated the debate, said the display of racism inherent in flying the flag is bringing all black organizations together. "The forum represents a moment where the inside and the outside of the (NAACP) intersect," Henderson said. "We need to always try to cultivate the grounds between us."
While most of the speakers argued in opposition to the Confederate flag and said it represents the oppression that blacks are still fighting today, some audience members attempted to argue for the Confederate flag as a symbol of Southern heritage.
But Henderson continued to argue that flying the flag represents hate. "The sight of the Confederate flag, to me, is repugnant," she said. "To me, and to blacks, it doesn't mean all (of the) different things that it means to white Southerners. ... It stands for a nation that was predicated on the enslavement of African Americans."
Audience members frequently intervened during the formal speakers' comments and said they felt the Confederate flag represents black oppression. "I think the flag is horrific," said Tola Atewologun, a junior public policy analysis major. "Any state-sanctioned symbol that obviously offends a large group of people is wrong."
Henderson spoke adamantly about the Confederate flag as a symbol. "Look at the cross or the swastika. ... Symbols move us emotionally," she said. "They provide a deep inspiration for wars that have been fought.
"What used to be a symbol of sectional differences of North and South ... has now become a symbol of the difference between black and white."
