UW-L reports nearly a dozen complaints about confederate flags

Message at UW-L program: People don’t
want to be told not to be upset about flag

People offended by seeing a confederate flag don’t want to be told that they shouldn’t be upset.

That’s one message coming from a program Friday at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, responding to complaints about a truck bearing the confederate flag symbol on campus.

Vice chancellor Paula Knudson has been criticized, after writing an e-mail apologizing for the presence of the flag. Knudson has kept a low profile since then. 

At the program today, she said she did not intend to hide and also argued that she respects freedom of speech on campus. 

The UW-L campus climate office reports getting nearly a dozen complaints this semester about confederate flags. The people who filed complaints said they feel threatened and ‘unsafe’ after seeing a symbol of white supremacy.

The program Friday stems from an incident that happened last week (below):

That led to a series of letters from UW-L administration, including one from chancellor Joe Gow referencing the school’s Hate Response Team website, “to see clear evidence of what is taking place on a regular basis at our university.”

On that website, you can see three separate reports from people on campus referencing the trucker’s flag (top picture).