News
   Valley Center
   Park City
   Kechi
   Bel Aire
   School
   Sheriff
   Police & Fire
   Deaths
   Looking Back
   Heard on Main Street
Municipal Court
Sports
   School Sports
   Rec League
People
   General
   Birthdays
   Engagements & Weddings
Opinions
   Editorials
   Letters
   Commentary
Columns
Church
Advertising
   Classified
   Legal
Rick Smith says he replaced the flag that was ripped from the pole in his yard earlier this month.

Flag not a symbol of hate, man says
By Taylor Messick
Last Updated: April 19, 2018

Rick Smith said the Confederate flag he has flying in his front yard in Kechi represents history, not hate.

Smith said the flag was recently stolen. He last saw the flag at 10:30 a.m. April 4. Even though he has three more, he was upset.

"It was there Wednesday morning," said Smith. "They took it down Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. They didn't take it clear down; they pulled it off. They dropped it down far enough and just tore the flag down because the eye rings were still hooked to the pole."

The flag has stirred controversy in the small town.

Council member and local business owner Betty Washington expressed her dismay.

Smith said Mayor John Speer attempted to talk Smith into taking the flag down.

"He came over here and talked to me in the driveway," said Smith. "He showed me his family picture from Georgia where he's from. He understands the significance of this flag. Well then he took me out to lunch and said he was buying. He took me to Geno's — to Ms. Washington's — and threw me under the bus."

Smith said he is from Wichita and moved to Kechi about four years ago. Speer and Washington both seemed to think Smith was going to take the flag down after their lunch together, but Smith he said he doesn't know why they thought that. He claims he never offered to take the flag down.

"The only reason it's flying topside is my American flag is shredded and I took it off," he said. "I'm going to get a new one and put it up top; I didn't say I was going to take my Confederate flag down. I said when I do, I'll replace it with the veterans' flag or the POW flag. I haven't got it yet and the only reason is because of the controversy surrounding this flag."

According to Smith, Washington does not know the history behind the flag. He said he is not a racist because he is involved in charity events with other motorcycle enthusiasts.

"I know what it stands for and evidently she doesn't," he said. "I told her I'm not a racist or a hateful person because I do good things. I ride with the motorcycle bunch, and we do benefits for kids and the less fortunate. We do it for anybody and everybody. And it doesn't make any difference what color they are; we don't look at color. Back when I was in school — back in the days — that's the way it was. But I've grown up and I don't see it this way anymore."

Smith said the Confederate flag is no longer used by the Nazis or Ku Klux Klan because it was not hateful enough. He said also mentioned multiple times that he has seen pictures and heard stories of black men wearing the flag.

"They had it for a short period of time," he said. "Because they couldn't get their point across with the Confederate flag. It had too much good behind it for what they wanted it to represent. They switched over to the swastika flag because it had more hate behind it because of Hitler. There was thousands of black men that was killed flying this flag to support the south."

Smith criticized those who don't know the history behind the Confederate flag and said they should Google it.

"The red represents the blood of Christ," he said. "The white border represents the protection of God. The blue ‘x' represents the Christian cross of St. Andrew — the first disciple of Jesus and patron saint of Scotland. The 13 stars represent the 13 Southern states in succession; thus the meaning of the Confederate flag is through the blood of Christ and protection of God, we 13 states are united in our fight for liberty. That's what that flag stands for; I'm not a religious man — but I'm spiritual."

Smith admits that he normally votes Republican over Democrat, but said he believes former President Barack Obama is at fault for dividing the country. Smith said he is a Trump supporter.

"The biggest problem is Obama divided this country while he was in office," he said. "Obama divided us against white and black and all the races; my belief is that was his change. He wanted to divide this country and he started it real good. It don't bother me because I'm not going to go out and jump up and down because a cop killed somebody. It happens and my voice isn't going to change that. I didn't vote for the man, I don't like him and I'm against everything he stood for. He didn't better nobody; he's got the country turned upside down and our president today is making a big change in turning stuff back around."

Smith said he has not spoken to Washington since going to her restaurant. He also said he didn't talk to her about their conflicting feelings on the flag. He said he hasn't talked to any African-Americans about their feelings on the flag.

"It represents freedom of the South," he said. "The North won but the South still believes in it. I strongly believe for the underdog. What it boils down to is that there's good and bad in all races. To me, I'm seeing the good in it. Mrs. Washington and whoever stole my flag are seeing the bad in it."





Trending Stories
Legals SEDGWICK COUNTY PUBLIC NOTICE

Valley Center Wrapped in love

Valley Center City trims street projects

Valley Center Student enrollment sees a small dip

Valley Center Contact The Ark Valley News

Other Sections
News

Sports

People

Columns

Opinion

Contact Ark Valley News | Archives