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Zorn’s explanation to Lake on the importance of teaching youth what the Confederate flag stood for suggests that he knew what he was doing when he wore what appears to be a Confederate flag pattern. Zorn issued a non-apology Saturday claiming that his actions were “an error in judgment.”
“Even if it was a Confederate flag, you know, we should be talking about teaching our national history in schools and that’s part of our national history and it’s something we can’t just throw away because it is part of our history,” Zorn told WLNS-TV. “And if we want to make sure that the atrocities that happened during that time doesn’t happen again, we should be teaching it. Our kids should know what that flag stands for,” he added.
The apology came after several legislatures and state officials conveyed concern in Zorn’s decision to wear the mask; many took to Twitter to express their dismay. “The Confederate flag should never be worn, especially by an elected official,” Michigan State senator Jeff Irwin said.
State senator Mallory McMorrow also shared her thoughts on Twitter. “Even if it’s questionable … if people have to ask … don’t. Don’t wear anything resembling a Confederate flag,” she tweeted. “As an elected official. In the state Capitol. On the Senate floor. During session.”
Despite knowing the concerns it will raise, Zorn wore the mask not only in public but to a Senate meeting in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting follows protests and outcries by Republican officials to end stay-at-home orders amid the novel coronavirus. State Senators met to vote on issues related to the virus, including a bill to repeal Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency powers, The Washington Post reported. The Friday incident follows a demonstration in which thousands protested Whitmer’s stay-at-home order outside the state capitol earlier this month, many depicted with the Confederate flag.
Michigan’s first Black lieutenant governor, Garlin Gilchrist, referred to the mask as “appalling and disgusting” on MSNBC, noting that in addition to Confederate flags, swastikas were being worn at coronavirus protests. “To see those Confederate flags and swastikas in the Capitol last week shows you what this was really all about,” Gilchrist said. “This was not about protesting orders to stay home and stay safe. This was about politics and partisanship. That was a Trump rally.”
According to The Post, some connected the mask to present and historical inequalities African American communities face in both Michigan and the U.S. as a whole. Despite only making up 14% of Michigan’s population African American’s account for more than 40% of coronavirus deaths in the state.
Michigan has the third-highest number of coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. with over 3,000 deaths and more than 37,000 infected, BuzzFeed News reported.
