A story – with video – about a Georgia couple who turned away a contractor they found online because of the Confederate flag affixed to his truck has gone viral.
Allison and Zeke Brown of Atlanta say they hired a man named Michael to come to their home and replace the brakes on a golf cart they own. But they changed their mind after he arrived at their home with a Confederate flag on his truck.
The respectful exchange was captured on the family Ring doorbell video camera, but when the Browns, who are black, published the interaction with Michael, who is white, online… the social media critics unleashed.
Allison reported that she ventured outside to talk to the contractor after her husband came inside to talk to her and said, “God is testing me.” “He hadn’t been disrespectful prior, so seeing the flag did not fit my preconceptions.” Upon explaining the presence of the flag to his wife, Allison went outside.
“Hi, you know what, I do apologize, I know you’ve come from a very long way, but we’re going to use someone else,” Allison can be heard telling the contractor. Her husband then tells the contractor that his wife is upset because of the flag.
“No, I’m beyond upset with the flag,” corrects Allison.
The contractors suggests removing the flag, but the woman says “No, you don’t need to take it down. You can continue to believe what you need to believe, sir. But no, I cannot pay you for your services. Thank you, have a good day.”
Yahoo! reported that they saw screenshots indicating the contractor once again apologized for offending the couple after he left their home. In screenshots of the conversation on Facebook Messenger shared with Yahoo Lifestyle, Zeke told the contractor:
“Yes, it is extremely offensive to anyone of color. I understand it is part of American history, but that flag stood for a time in history where people such as myself had a very bad way of life…Micheal, I hope this small interaction causes you to do a little research on how several Americans feel about the Confederacy. I know it’s part of history, so is Nazi Germany…”
The contractor reportedly told Yahoo that he is a “redneck” and that the flag is for the Fourth of July. “My little siblings bought it from a flea market.”
The video, which is at the bottom of the article, was shared by the Browns and then again by dozens of influencers on social media. Among the responses:
You can watch it all below.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1146052619481337857
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Melanie
July 8, 2019 at 8:35 am
For those who get offended about the confederate flag should really learn history. IT HADE NOTHING TO DO WITH SLAVERY!!!!!! IT WAS OVER FREAKING TAXES!!!! Had it been over slavery “and the south being all racists” as you all claim because of the flag then General Lee and Ulysses would have been fighting for the opposite side. Ya see it was Ulysses who owned slaves NOT General Lee🤦♀️
Michael
July 10, 2019 at 6:40 pm
WTF,I fly both the U.S. FLAG nd the Confederate flag. I honour both sides of that war,doesn’t mean I agree with slavery,just means I honour all that died in that war.But a lot of people seen to forget that there were black slave owners too,and also white slaves,though you never hear or read about that.
smg
April 24, 2020 at 10:23 pm
I saw this and saw a VERY FAMILIAR VIDEO on here. The one with the confederate flag. I’m going to give some low blows and bring a little politics into this because i know where this channel likes to lean. So Like many “liberal” sided sites who do it way more often than any other platform this video did NOT show the whole story. First off it’s Georgia, a southern state who is was (kinda still is) confederate leaning. This flag represents a culture history in itself as a battle flag. There are many people in the southern states who fly this flag of all colors both black and white in these southern states. This flag only represents racism in the feel good ways of people who should mind their own business and backyard. I would be that this couple is from some state North and they just moved in. If you look into the story and watch FULL VIDEO it shows the guy who stand by his beliefs to wave his flag and even offered to remove it in the presence. The husband would have let him do the work I can tell, but the wife was one of those loud mouthed justice warriors that said nope and made it headline news. The husband apologized as well as the man who didn’t mean to offend. He went on his way and found more work down the road at a neighbors place. There is no firing here, he wasn’t in the middle of the job and got kicked off the job. There was an agreement to look at a golf cart and he came to look at it, the best it can be called is an decision not to hire. I am a contractor who own my own business and If i go to a estimate like this prior to doing work and the home owner decides not to let me do the work I am not fired, LOL! That is such a stupid remark that I can almost paint a label on what type of person they are with that statement alone.
The repairman offered to remove the flag, but the damage was already done. He later reached out to the couple on Facebook to say he didn’t mean to offend them, Zeke Brown told ABC News. “I understand it is part of American history, but that flag stood for a time in history where people such as myself had a very bad way of life,” Brown wrote in the message, which was obtained by WXIA. “The few minutes I got to speak with you, I saw nothing that represents that flag. I saw a very respectful young man that works very hard to make his way.” IN THE SAME SENTENCE the husband said this was “bad” but you seem like a great guy that works hard” LOL.. If anyone was racist it was this family for ASSUMING this guy was racist for waving a battle flag carried by almost the whole state. Its no different than a Muslim guy waving his flag and calling him a terrorist.. These “black folk” need a lesson on history and how not to be judgmental. Slavery is over black people, get over it.. None of you bared the cracking of whips so leave it in the past. What the Browns should have done is paid him for his time it took him to get there, If the contractor would have known the Browns was racist then he could have chosen to do work somewhere else. Michael tells Yahoo Lifestyle that he is a “redneck” and that the flag is for the Fourth of July. “My little siblings bought it from a flea market,” he says. “I don’t support slavery and neither do my siblings. But I am not going to take it down when my siblings asked me to fly it. If [the family] wants to take offense, they can.” I wish i knew who they guy was as i would love to throw some cash his way and I have people in my social range that would love to do the same thing.. Keep flying your freedom, Michael. Don’t give up your way of thoughts just because people have thin skin. If anyone knows where Michael is please let me know!
Reply from comments: That’s fucked up and I would file discrimination lawsuit. I understand about the flag but seriously you hit racism with racism. Let’s stop the hate.
Reply from comments: I wonder how’d she (this couple) would’ve have responded if Mike was a black man whose heritage was embedded in the confederacy and the South. We can’t be so overtly sensitive concerning past events, in which we have no direct correlation to. We know what the NAZI flag stood for: the inhalation of all races. In contrast, blacks in the Deep South supported the confederacy and proudly waved the confederate flag. We can’t say the same for the NAZI flag or Hitler. I am black and this is my perspective. If they hired him on contract, they should have paid him. SMH!
Reply from comments: Not at all but you sound like a the flag represents southern heritage not racism racist
Reply from comments: Melanie July 8, 2019 at 8:35 am
For those who get offended about the confederate flag should really learn history. IT HADE NOTHING TO DO WITH SLAVERY!!!!!! IT WAS OVER FREAKING TAXES!!!! Had it been over slavery “and the south being all racists” as you all claim because of the flag then General Lee and Ulysses would have been fighting for the opposite side. Ya see it was Ulysses who owned slaves NOT General Lee
Reply from comments: WTF,I fly both the U.S. FLAG nd the Confederate flag. I honour both sides of that war,doesn’t mean I agree with slavery,just means I honour all that died in that war.But a lot of people seen to forget that there were black slave owners too,and also white slaves,though you never hear or read about that.
Mandy Snell
June 12, 2020 at 1:08 pm
Leave history alone !!! There are MANY aspects about history that makes us ‘ uncomfortable ‘, but it molded us into the country we are today !!! JUST STOP trying to tear it all down. We cannot take history out of our history books…. think about it !
Jordan Knutson
July 15, 2020 at 10:54 am
They took out almost all of black history out of the history books. No one seemed to make too much of a fuss about that. Never while in school did i learn anything about the significance of African American heritage. Where did African Americans come from? Who were there people? We just buried that and started there history here when they became free. We stripped them of their names, their livelihood and gave them the names of the slave owners that beat them. Any history before that? Who knows. We never gave it the time of day. Yes i’m aware they were sold to us by other people as well, but their history doesn’t start there either. No one is rewriting the history books. We will continue to learn about this countries dark past. What we’re doing is no longer continuing to celebrate it. Taking down a statues of men who raped and beat men and women for their own pleasure is in no way erasing history. It is evolving and realizing that maybe glorifying these men may not be the best thing to be doing. There is nothing wrong with being empathetic to the pain of black people. It’s ok to be understanding and compassionate. They’ve been given an extremely unfortunate existence in this country and there is no reason as to why we cannot try and help and allow them to feel as if they are part of this place just as much as everyone else. I’ll give an example. If you’re a Jewish man, and you’re walking down the street in Germany and there are glorified statues everywhere of nazi soldiers and possibly even hitler on top of hills the history, you would wonder why in the world they’re being put on a pedestal after everything we know? It would be even more bizarre if the German people around you were vehemently upset about the fact that you, the Jewish man, would even think about being bothered by this. A constant reminder of your people’s mass genocide. Of course you would be. Your fathers were brutally murdered by these people over years years. Sound familiar? The German people do not exclude all of these actions from the history books, but they also don’t glorify it either. There is a significant difference there. I love you all and i sincerely hope one day we can actually move further towards compassion and understand rather than defense. This country has a dark past and it is more than ok to acknowledge that. We can all try and be better.