Does Confederate Flag Belong in DuPage Co. Fair's Demolition Derby?

A car with the Confederate flag waving from a window during this weekend’s demolition derby at the DuPage County Fair in Wheaton upset some fairgoers, according to a Daily Herald report.

“As soon as he rolled out the gate like that, someone should have seen it, stopped him or disqualified him,” Aurora resident Derek Bonaparte, 34, told The Daily Herald. “It’s inappropriate to say the least. Why would you allow something like that that is so hurtful to so many people?”

»Via The Daily Herald

Although county fair officials couldn’t be reached for comment, Dennis Nelson, the owner of the Indiana-based company that is contracted to run the derby, told The Daily Herald that while he tries to keep drivers from displaying profanity and personal insults on their cars, he doesn’t want to completely suppress their freedom of expression. For some drivers, Nelson says the Stars and Bars are used as a “tough symbol,” the report stated.

“Some guys have Christian psalms on their cars and that might offend our Muslim fans. So do I make a guy take a Christian verse off his car? We live in a free country where there are groups who don’t like black people. There are groups who don’t like white people. Hell, there are groups that don’t like Chinese people, but what am I going to do? Where do you just stop and draw the line?”

Nelson said he would prohibit drivers from displaying the Confederate flag—or any other symbols—if the fair objected to them, the report stated.

This isn’t the first time Nelson has had run into problems with controversial displays on cars at the DuPage County Fair. In 2009, a Lombard driver had an Iron Cross with ”White Power” painted on his vehicle, the report stated.

YOUR TURN: Should the DuPage County Fair officials not allow cars in the demolition derby from displaying the Confederate flag? Should drivers be allowed to express their views on their vehicles, even if it offends fairgoers? And should this extend to the rides, vendors, fairgoers and others who attend the event? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section.