Confederate flag at Hamilton-area home prompts calls for changes to hate-symbol laws

Whenever Amie Archibald-Varley sees a Confederate flag waving in the wind at a rural Hamilton home in her neighbourhood, she said she feels fear and confusion.

"I have small children ... they're racialized as well ... it's concerning because it's like 'Are my kids going to face this type of hate? Are my kids going to be called the n-word or have to experience this type of fear?'" Archibald-Varley, who is Jamaican Canadian, told CBC Hamilton.

Archibald-Varley said she and her family live minutes away from the home.

The Confederate battle flag was flown during the U.S. Civil War, notoriously by Gen. Robert E. Lee's army that fought to preserve slavery, and became synonymous with the secessionist states.

The symbol was later resurrected during the civil rights movement by those opposed to equal rights for Black people, and has since been associated with white supremacist groups.

Last summer, Hamilton city councillors voted to ban the flag and the Nazi swastika from city property, classifying them as hate symbols. Police acknowledged then that it was not a criminal offence to fly a Confederate flag on one's own property. It would only be considered a crime if an investigation revealed that placement of the flag was motivated by hate.

Archibald-Varley says she originally tweeted about the flag in February but shared another tweet on Sunday which drew attention from the Canadian-Anti Hate Network (CAHN), the Hamilton Area Anti-Racism Coalition (HAARC) and Hamilton Centre For Civic Inclusion (HCCI).

"Why would anybody think it's acceptable?" she asked. 

The city has grappled with a reputation for hate. Statistics Canada data show it had the country's highest per-capita rate of hate crimes in 2019, 2018, 2016 and 2014.

CBC Hamilton visited the home in Binbrook, south east of central Hamilton, on Tuesday afternoon. The flag could be seen out front. 

The person who answered the door, who didn't want to be named, said they "don't care what other people think" and said they don't think the flag was racist.

They also said they've been flying the flag for over two years, haven't had any prior complaints and said other locals fly the flag.

"I fly that for freedom, that is my choice. I live in a free country," said the resident.

"I'm an individual and I have a right ... it's not offensive, it's all how you choose to look at it ... if I could afford the General Lee, I'd park it in the driveway."