Overall, the issue is really complicated because on the one hand the Confederate flag is the part of the American history, and one the other hand it is not correct to have it on the Capitol due to the latest events.
This debate being one of the pages of American history is greatly influenced by western imperial and colonial legacies. In fact, the legacy of western imperialism and colonialism is felt in many of today’s conflicts in regard to ethnic or religious questions, and the issue of the Confederate flag is one of them. The roots of this conflict go deep in history up to the times of slavery, and this is here that western imperialism and colonialism enter the problem. The matter is that the notion of racism, which gave birth to the current debate as well as numerous hate crimes and other issues similar to them, originates from western imperialism and colonialism, and mostly from westerner’s desire to expand the territories they had and to exploit free labor of slaves. In fact, the main reason why the notion of racism does take place in modern America is that it is imperialism and colonialism that set the boundaries between races and established the idea of differences between races and of submission of one race to another. Therefore, it is possible to say that western imperialism has given rise to animosity between people, which resulted in racism and, consequently, the issue under consideration as well.
In addition to this, as it follows from Peter Frankopan’s article Go East, Young Knight, western imperialism is seen in the tendency of shifting focus when it comes to historical events. In particular, it appears that very often history is written in the way particular personalities want it to be.