Some North Texas Stores Aren't Ditching Confederate Flag
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - eBay, Amazon and Walmart all say they will not sell merchandise with the Confederate flag. But some North Texas stores plan to continue stocking and selling it.
"We carry the five flags of the Confederacy," says Denise Lucas of The Flag Store. She's not a fan of the flag, but it's history.
"It has been used to oppress people. It's very true. If I was African American, I'd be very upset about it," says Lucas.
Yet the Dallas business owner has no plans to get rid of it.
"We made the decision that it's a historical flag. I could start throwing stuff out if I want to. But you're throwing out history," says Lucas. "You don't get to rewrite history."
Lucas says she rarely sells any Confederate flags and the last time she did it was to a local African-American rapper on his way to SXSW in Austin.
"If you don't teach people about the flag, it will keep power over people. Don't fear it. It's there. It was used in battle, this is what it was used for. Teach people the history of it and why it should be used now," says Lucas.
In Irving at Porters Army and Navy you'll find flags along with stickers and patches.
"You know, six flags under Texas. And that was one of them," says Steve Porter.
Porter says he mostly sells them to Civil War re-enactors and says no one has ever asked him to stop selling Confederate flag items.
"Course, when you get something like this, it naturally stimulates it because people naturally want one," says Porter.
Lucas says she hopes that does not become the case.
"Someday, I think we'll buy one and it'll go five years and we'll realize we haven't sold it. And that would be a nice day for us."
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