Kentucky Parks Will No Longer Sell Confederate Battle Flags

The Indiana State Fair Commission sent a letter to vendors this week asking them not to sell or display the Confederate flag or any items in support of the flag.

The state parks department said it will no longer sell such merchandise as caps or shirts strictly featuring the Confederate battle flag at park gift shops. The ban includes the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site, a memorial to the native Kentuckian who was the Confederacy’s president.

NAACP leader Raoul Cunningham says the action represents progress against “hate literature”. While we have limitations on enforcement we have maintained the following policy with all of our vendors in past years.

Items that feature both the U.S. and the Confederate battle flags, educational material such as books, DVDS and other interpretive media that put the flag in historical context, may be sold at the gift shops.

Kentucky’s new policy is a result of last months shootings in South Carolina.

“When you say that you’re going to eliminate only one side of the issue of the war and who fought it, that is viewpoint discrimination and unconstitutional”, said Wilhite, the heritage defense officer for the organization’s Kentucky division.

The Indiana State Fair Commission says a policy in place for years states that offensive merchandise is not allowed.

NASCAR has also asked fans to not bring Confederate flags to events including Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.