Dennis Perkins, chairman of the Western Kentucky University Social and Cultural Diversity Committee, listens to discussion about the Confederate flag Tuesday night at the Downing University Center. Photo by Clinton Lewis

For some Western Kentucky University students, the Confederate flag is a symbol of hate. Others feel it represents Southern pride. Still, many Western students remain indifferent on the issue. The views were expressed by some of the students who attended Topper Talk Live Tuesday at Downing University Center. The weekly forum brings students together to discuss issues that concern them, said Dennis Perkins, Social and Cultural Diversity Committee chair. When we were tossing out ideas, someone mentioned the Confederate flag, so we changed the subject for today since it was Black History Month, Perkins said. We know that its a hot issue, but we wanted the students to leave here and at least process the thoughts of someone else. About 50 students and staff filled the small classroom to discuss what the flag meant to them.Several students, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said the flag represented what Confederate-era people believed was the right thing. While they acknowledge that blacks could view what many call the rebel flag in a negative light, they say its more of a cultural representation.When I look at that flag, I see it … (being) as much as your flag as it is mine, one white student said to the black students. Because I have a rebel flag, please dont think that I hate you. I dont. Its a piece of the South and so am I.It also was chosen because the original flag resembled the American flag and at the time, the southern states were wanting to secede from the nation, many said. Andrew Jackson, a black sophomore from Louisville, disagreed. It could be for Southern pride, but it was a different kind of pride, Jackson said. If it was just a battle symbol, black people would be more accepting of it, but theyre not. It will always be a controversy because no one is going to see the same side.I never saw the flag in a positive way. They may not say it, but its still there. You dont see many (black) people owning things. It may be pride, but youre still controlling everything. Someone raised the question: How are we supposed to know the difference between (non-racist) people who carry the rebel flags and those who are racist?But no one answered. For students like Michigan-born freshman Matt Grammatico, the issue isnt limited to just blacks. People from the northern states sometimes face similar concerns, he said. Diversity committee member Ben Ellis reported that nationally, 69 percent of whites felt that the flag represented Southern pride, while 68 percent of blacks didnt find it offensive, he said.Amid the rumblings of several blacks that thought the statistics were incorrect, Housing and Student life complex Director Michael Crowe said he would be one of the 68 percent of blacks who werent affected by the Confederate flag. I lived in an all-white neighborhood my parents lived there for 24 years, Crowe said. I was beaten up and they didnt fly the flag.There has been so much misrepresentation from racist groups that no matter what the students say, many blacks wouldnt believe them, Crowe said. Crowe admired the students courage in sharing their views at the forum, despite responses. Now, when I see (one of the participants) riding around town with a rebel flag hanging from his car, I will know that hes not a racist, Crowe said.