JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A plane was spotted flying over TIAA Bank Field on Sunday morning displaying a banner with a Confederate flag. The banner flew over the stadium ahead of the highly anticipated Jacksonville Jaguars vs Dallas Cowboys game.
The plane with the banner was sponsored by a group called Save Southern Heritage, according to their press release. This is not the first time the group has flown a banner with a confederate flag but this time the banner read “History Not Hate”.
The plane flew over TIAA Bank while football fans were tailgating ahead of the game advocating for keeping and putting back Confederate monuments.
“We saw it, and we have bigger things to worry about than that,” said a Jaguars fan on his way out of the stadium.
“If we want to keep the monuments up, keep them, but teach everything with the monuments,” added another Jaguars fan. “Teach the whole story, not just part of the story.”
“As I’ve said before, there is no place for hate of any kind in our City. My position on monuments remains clear, I have allocated money for removal and empowered city council to take action.”
Save Southern Heritage said in a statement the fly-overs are part of a broad campaign that includes advocacy and litigation, also claiming the banners are “100% community funded.”
Wells Todd of Take ’em Down Jax, a group pushing to see the monuments removed, shared the organization’s thoughts on the message in a statement over Thanksgiving weekend, when the group initially flew a banner:
“Speeches at the time of the erection of these statues make clear that they represent the upholding of the philosophy of white supremacy, the support for slavery, segregation and racism.”