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Latest Battles in US Culture War Take Aim at Southern History

Patsy Widakuswara

   WASHINGTON - Amid weeks of protests over systemic racism triggered by
   the death of a black man in the custody of a white police officer in
   Minneapolis, the U.S is facing a renewed culture war over symbols of
   the Confederacy -- 11 states in the American South that wanted to
   preserve slavery in a Civil War that almost tore the country apart more
   than 150 years ago.

   A statue of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, in Richmond,
   Virginia, and a statue of the Confederacy's most honored general,
   Robert E. Lee, in Montgomery, Alabama, have been removed along with
   dozens of other Confederate monuments. Others have been vandalized.

   NASCAR, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, an
   organization that has celebrated its Southern roots since its inception
   72 years ago, announced Wednesday it is banning the Confederate flag at
   its events and properties, declaring it "runs contrary to our
   commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment."

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