Corey Taylor has weighed in on the Confederate flag debate, saying it should never have been flown above government buildings in the first place.
The controversial flag has been at the centre of widespread debate in the United States, with it eventually being removed from the grounds of South Carolina’s statehouse last week.
The debate was sparked in the wake of the mass murder of nine black people by a white gunman in a South Carolina church last month. Pictures later emerged of suspect Dylann Roof posing with the US civil war-era banner.
In the week that former Pantera singer Phil Anselmo said he regretted his past links to the symbol, the Slipknot frontman made his position clear.
Taylor tells Opie Radio (via Blabbermouth): “I don’t get it. It’s 2015. It’s not like it’s fucking 1901. If you can’t figure out why it’s wrong to put a Confederate flag in front of a place where you’re supposed to have fucking equal justice, then you need to go back to fucking sleep, man, because you’re never gonna figure it out.”
The flag was adopted by the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E Lee, who is still considered a hero in some parts of the American south despite his army having fought for the right for white people to own slaves.
Taylor adds: “It’s interesting, because everybody talks about heritage versus hate and everything. History kind of teaches us it is about hate. I mean, you can talk about General Lee all you want, but it still stands for the fact that you were trying to keep the right to own people.”
After the removal of the flag from South Carolina’s statehouse, the mayor of New Orleans has outlined a plan to remove statues and other relics related to the Confederacy from the city.
