Byron Thomas, a student at the University of South Carolina at Beaufort, has fought for and won the right to hang his Confederate flag in his dorm room. Thomas, caused quite the stir on campus when he flew the flag in his window and asked to take it down. The 18-year-old said he does not fly the flag to agree with racism, but to show his Southern pride. Watch more about Thomas and his flag after the jump.
Julie1205
Last month, the Confederate battle flag whipped up controversy on the campus of University of South Carolina at Beaufort.
One student fought for the right to hang the Confederate flag in his dorm room window.
Not a white student. A black student fought for what he says he believes in.
18 year-old Byron Thomas, a North Augusta, SC, native and freshman at USCB, is African American. He wants the right to hang the flag in his dorm room window.
After multiple complaints, Thomas was told the flag must come out of the window.
“To me it is a heritage thing and a pride thing. It is not a racist thing whatsoever,” Thomas told WTOC.
Thomas is, all of a sudden, the most popular guy on the Beaufort campus after his Youtube video explaining his position on the flag went viral along with being featured on CNN.
“I read a CNN comment that I disgraced the black community,” Thomas said.
Thomas decided to do something he couldn’t do at home. “No sir, because my parents have strong feelings about it,” he said.
He hung the Confederate flag in his dorm room window for the rest of his peers, with a courtyard view, to see.
“There would have been a serious problem if I had done it in my house,” Thomas said. “I’m 18 now. I should have my own right to believe how I want to believe about things.”
Thomas said his feelings about the flag were intensified after he did a research paper on the flag in September.
“I’m no idiot. I researched both sides but in the end I formed my own conclusion,” he said.
By November, the housing staff at USCB told Thomas the flag must come down.
“They never told me people were complaining. They said I was violating a racism code,” he said.
“We received about 20 to 24 complaints,” Doug Oblander, Vice-Chancellor of Student Development at University of South Carolina at Beaufort, told WTOC. “When they open their windows to let the sun in, they look directly into this flag.”
Oblander told WTOC details of the case took him by surprise. “If you had asked me who would have the Confederate flag up in their window I would not have thought it would be an African American student,” he said.
However, the action alone did not shock Oblander.
“You are talking about 18 to 20 year olds. People will test limits,” Oblander said.
After an appeal by Thomas, along with national attention and a review by university lawyers, Thomas was told Thursday morning it had been recommended by counsel that he be allowed to put the flag back up.
“It probably is an infringement of his First Amendment rights,” Oblander said.
“The college told me personally I could put the flag back up and exercise my Freedom of Speech,” Thomas said.
His parents still don’t approve of the flag being hung. “Ooohh…Wow. We had a long conversation about this,” he said. “If we carry their opinions that flag will always divide.”
As of Thursday night, the flag is back.
“That flag means to me southern heritage. I love the south. I’ve always lived in the south. Everything about the south, to me, is great,” Thomas said.
School leaders are organizing a forum in the spring with student government to discuss this issue. Thomas is a member of student senate. A few other complaints about offensive things in windows have come up this fall, including one student displaying a swastika.
Below is the statement to staff and students from University of South Carolina at Beaufort’s Jane Upshaw regarding the flag controversy.
WBTV
