Ohio lawmakers have thwarted two bids to bar Confederate memorabilia from certain public events even as thousands of Americans protest the police killing of George Floyd and organizations like NASCAR ban the “banner of white supremacy.” Overnight, the Republican majority in the statehouse rejected an amendment that would “prohibit the sale, display, possession or distribution of Confederate memorabilia at local and county fairs.” “The Confederate flag is a banner of white supremacy and a reminder of our nation’s original sin of slavery,” Rep. Juanita Brent, a Cleveland Democrat and sponsor of the amendment, said in a statement. Brent also noted that in 2015 the Ohio State Fair banned the sale of Confederate flag merchandise. But GOP lawmakers argued such a ban would violate First Amendment rights and removed it from a bill aimed at providing aid to the 87 county and seven independent fairs that were shut down by the…
Continue Reading: Ohio lawmakers reject ban on Confederate memorabilia at county fairs
