Racist public symbols in the US go far beyond the Confederate flag

“Hey, hey, hey, goodbye!”

That’s the sound that could be heard around the South Carolina statehouse grounds last week as the state honor guard lowered the Confederate flag once and for all. But have we as a country really said “goodbye” to public displays of racism? The Confederate flag in Columbia, South Carolina was but one example of a symbol that had imbued a public space with a heavy air of racism.

In light of the debate at the South Carolina statehouse, we asked readers to submit controversial, racist symbols in their own cities and hometowns. While the results of our survey are far from comprehensive, the map shows a number of interesting trends – among them, that racism is not limited to the south. In fact, racist symbols including Confederate imagery were found from the Pacific Northwest to the Florida coast.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/17/public-symbols-landmarks-racist-confederate-flag