Ole Miss linebacker C.J. Johnson on Confederate flag: ‘It sickens me’

Ole Miss linebacker C.J. Johnson gave his thoughts on race in a recent ESPN story.

Ole Miss linebacker C.J. Johnsonsaid it “sickens” him when he sees a confederate flag around campus.

ESPN interviewed Johnson, along with 12 others, about race and college football. The interviewees were asked about race in the context of Oklahoma linebacker Eric Striker’s Snapchat video last spring, in which he responded to video of a racist chant from an Oklahoma fraternity.

Johnson had strong thoughts about the use of the Confederate flag, which sparked a national debate when it was taken down in South Carolina in the wake of racially-motivated crimes in July.

“It sickens me when I see [a Confederate flag] on people’s cars on campus. If you have the Confederate flag on your vehicle, you have a problem,” Johnson said. “And I don't care if it's socially what you believe in or it's morally what you believe in or you're just doing it for s---s and giggles. It's just the fact of what it stands for. It's almost like you might as well put a tag on the front of your car that says 'n-----.' That's really what it boils down to. You might as well just put a big tag on the front of your car or hang a big flag on the back of your car and just say the N-word.”

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You can read the entire story here.

– Rohan Nadkarni