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The 2000's
 Confederate Flag Controversy

Confederate Flag Controversy
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 5 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   10.09

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    defiance, desegregation, extremist, controversy, historical, altogether, flagpole, society, slavery, reintroduced, series, logo, meaning, capitol, protest, flown
     content words:    South Carolina, Civil War, In Georgia, Supreme Court, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, Southern Poverty Law Center, Southern Cross, On July

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Confederate Flag Controversy
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     The controversy over the Confederate flag that had been brewing for years and years erupted into front page news in the year 2000 with the debate over whether to continue flying the Confederate flag over the statehouse in South Carolina.
 
2     Some people trace the controversy all the way back to the Civil War, while others point to the mid-1900s when Confederate flags were flown in defiance of the civil rights movement. In Georgia, for instance, the Confederate flag was reintroduced in 1956, just two years after the Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education. It was considered by many to be a protest against school desegregation.
 
3     Other southern states incorporated the old Confederate flag into their own state flag designs. Some states flew the Confederate flag itself over the statehouse in their capital cities. These decisions to bring out the old Confederate flag occurred during the years of the civil rights movement. During this time, important changes were taking place in American society. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 made these changes into laws.
 
4     Gradually, most states removed the Confederate flags from their state capitols. After a while, South Carolina was the one state still flying the Confederate flag at its statehouse. Along with the U.S. flag and the South Carolina state flag, the Confederate flag had been displayed atop the South Carolina statehouse dome since 1962.
 
5     For years, the flag controversy continued in South Carolina. People debated the real meaning of the Confederate flag. Those who wished to continue displaying the flag over the statehouse described the flag as a symbol of pride in their southern heritage and pride in the independent spirit displayed by the South during the Civil War.

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