I'm far from PC; but I wonder how any of our black or mixed race players would feel seeing that flag being flown amongst our supporters.

It is, above all else, a symbol of those who went to war whilst protecting their right to own slaves. Black slaves for those who don't read much.

If Itzak Zohar were still at the club (glad he's not, terrible player!), would it be a fair one to fly a Swastika?

The appalling treatment of blacks in the US largely stemmed from those whose loyalty was to the confederate flag.

Let's try this one more time. No, it's very much not just being PC. Palace are no longer seen just two or three times a year on dodgy internet streams by a few South London ex-pats. Conservatively, there were probably a million plus North American viewers watching the Palace v Man City game (NBC had 900,000 for the preceding Liverpool v Chelsea game. Add in at least another 250,000 in Canada).

The display of the Confederate flag is still a highly controversial and divisive issue in North America and seeing it on a banner at Palace prompted immediate unfavourable reactions.

In a final, probably vain, hope that people might yet be able to look beyond their little piece of England and understand that the club now has a world-wide presence, look at the upcoming US tour.

The last stop on Palace's US tour is the Richmond Kickers. Richmond, Virginia currently has several controversies involving the display of the flag. A group called the Virginia Flaggers has erected a huge Confederate flag close to an Interstate highway North of Richmond. This immediately prompted major complaints that it was promoting racism and slavery: [Link]

"The flag stirs strong emotions in Richmond, where African-Americans, are the majority. The city, the former capital of the Confederacy, was the site of the nation's second largest slave market".
"For a lot of Virginians and a lot of Americans, it has a negative connotation," said McClellan, who is also a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. "It has been used by hate groups to promote their beliefs in white supremacy"".

There is also a similar flag controversy related to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, discussed in this blog from a Richmond resident heavily into Civil War history: [Link]

"As a Civil War buff, I struggle with this issue of the Confederate flag. When I've heard about Confederate flags flying over city hall buildings or government buildings in the past, it always seemed like a no-brainer to me that the flag shouldn’t be there."

"Of course, it’s not that simple. Any person living in the South knows the context of the Confederate flag has changed over the past 150 years. The flag has been perverted over the years and sadly, is recognized more today as a symbol of backwards thinking, racism, and hate. Are there people who fly the flag out of respect for their Southern heritage and eschew its other meanings? Absolutely. In our society, however, it’s a difficult thing to wave a flag and expect people to parse your specific meaning."

The club has a achieved an amazing amount of positive response in the US and Canada for both the performance on the field and the amazing support in the stands. Thus the US summer tour. I don't want to continue to have to defend my club against completely undeserved accusations of being racist from friends, neighbours, and the supporters of other clubs. It's absolutely not who we are. I want to just discuss football.

For the love of sanity, why would anyone want this controversy associated with our club for the sake of a bit of bloody-mindedness?

Edited by MikeT (09 Jul 2014 7.18pm)

Edited by MikeT (09 Jul 2014 7.20pm)

Right then, I think that could be the final word on the matter. Forgive them for they knew not what they were doing. But tell them not to do it again, please.

What a wind up. When some people are serious in their concern for how Palace are perceived by the World in general, it's nice to read a little flippant humour. Let's hope black people who play or support Palace see it the same way, and so the parents of those school children shot dead by Americans happy with their free to own guns.

Because the money Americans use to buy kits can fund transfer fees for new players.

Man United, City, Liverpool and Arsenal all sell more kits in North American than they do in England.

Be Loud, Be Proud, Be Palace

Bin it and get a Tibetan one innit. Red and blue and looks great. Tho doubtless some people would start s***ting the bed about affecting shirt sales in china

[Link]

"How can I remember to keep it all together when half the moon is taken away?"