The red, white and blue of the Confederate flag located on private property off Southside Road in rural Hollister will be coming down this evening, said its owner, Michael Zgragen.
“I probably made a mistake and I’m sorry that I upset so many people,” Zgragen said. “The flag will be coming down tonight.”
Zgragen declined to share his reasons for flying the flag, which caused tension with neighbor Lisa Jensen after customers at her Suncoast Organic Farm Bakery, across Tres Pinos Creek, began to mistake the banner located at the edge of his property as her possession.
The Hollister Free Lance’s initial story about the neighborly dispute garnered a lot of attention on social media, including more than 400 Facebook “likes” and dozens of comments for the article as of Wednesday afternoon.
Zgragen added he hoped people would stop bothering his 89-year-old mother with phone calls and added “mamma’s know best.”
In California, flying a Confederate flag on private property is legal and considered an act of free speech, but the state can’t sell or display the banner or other objects marked with the image. The flag is still allowed to appear in school textbooks and public museums.
Descendants of Confederate soldiers, who fought during the nation’s Civil War, argue the flag represents history and shows Southern heritage and pride. Others see it as a symbol of racism and hate, especially since it was adopted by white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. Still others see it as a symbol of rebellion against authority.
To Jensen, the flag represents slavery, she told the Free Lance last week.
“I think we should just have the American flag and be done with it,” Jensen said. “I’m an American. That’s what I would want to fly.”
The Confederate flag was in the nation’s spotlight in July, when it was removed from the South Carolina statehouse following the June killings of nine African Americans in a Charleston church. Dylann Roof, who is white, faces charges for nine counts of murder and had shared photos of himself online waving Confederate flags and burning a U.S. one, according to media reports.
“It sounds like they’re upsetting the public, but it’s all on their property,” Margaret Russell, a professor specializing in constitutional law at Santa Clara University, told the Free Lance earlier this week.
The First Amendment applies to government regulation of property, Russell explained. It is a long-standing principle that freedom of speech and expression on private land is up to the property owner and authorized users, she said.
Things can get more complicated if the person flying the flag doesn’t own the property on which the banner is displayed or doesn’t have the owner’s permission, the professor explained.
Russell called the flag “definitely upsetting,” but added it is important to consider the consequences of restricting somebody else’s view.
“The First Amendment principle is, ‘If you’re upset, just avert your eyes,’” the professor said.
The banner will come down after he finishes work, Zgragen said. He will also be talking to the Millers, he said. Gary and Marianne Miller own the land across from Zgragen and let their daughter, Jensen, run a bakery from their property.
“There’ll be a good-old USA flag probably going up,” Zgragen said. “Stars and stripes. And I hope that’s fine.”
Zgragen already has two small USA flags posted, he said. He might put a third one in the Confederate flag’s place, or he might just wait and let the topic settle, he said.
