Civil Rights leaders are speaking out against the hanging of a confederate flag inside of the Old North Carolina Capitol building.

The flag is part of a display The to mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, and is meant to replicate how the building appeared at the time.

The state’s Historic Sites Director Keith Hardison says the flag should be viewed with that historical context in mind.

But the president of North Carolina’s NAACP chapter says that context doesn’t make the flag any less offensive.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

“He is right that it has a historical context,” Barber said. “But what is that history? The history of racism. The history of lynchings. The history of death. The history of slavery. If you say that shouldn’t be offensive, then either you don’t know the history, or you are denying the history.”

Sessions of the General Assembly moved to a newer building a half-century ago, but the old capitol is still routinely used as a venue for official state government events. Gov. Pat McCrory‘s office is on the first floor, as are the offices of his chief of staff and communications staff.

The governor was in the House chamber where the Confederate flag hangs as recently as Wednesday, when he presided over the swearing in ceremony of his new Highway Patrol commander.

Read more at SFChronicle.com

Does the state’s intent to replicate the building’s antebellum appearance justify displaying the confederate flag?

Is there ever an excuse for displaying a confederate flag?

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