SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – After a Utah BLM Chapter made headlines across the country for claiming the American flag is racist, the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People has decided to also release a statement.

On July 10, the President of the NAACP Utah State Conference, Jeanetta Williams denounces the statements made by a representative of the Utah BLM on “When we Black Americans see this flag, we know the person flying it is not safe to be around, is a racist and lives in a different America and questions their intelligence.”

According to the National Association, they do not agree with the controversial idea and dismisses the thought that flying the American flag is a racist message.

“The flag stands for all the people who have lived and served to bring about the best of the American Experience, that all people are created equal,” the NAACP states. “Real American Patriots have stood for equality and justice for all. While we recognize that the history of our nation is marked with both failures and successes in the treatment of minorities, we know the way forward starts with respect and togetherness for all Americans.”

Williams goes on to say the American flag represents “the highest aspirations expressed from the founding of the Union, through the Emancipation Declaration, the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution, the Enactment of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, to the millions of Americans who support their fellow citizens of all races, national origin, and color.”

On July 4, Black Lives Matter Utah posted a picture of the American flag with a caption that prompted a national dialogue about what the flag really means.  

“When we Black Americans see this flag we know the person flying it is not safe to be around. When we see this flag we know the person flying it is a racist. When we see this flag we know that the person flying it lives in a different America then we do. When we see this flag, we question your intelligence. We know to avoid you. It is a symbol of hatred,” the social media post says.  

“I don’t take it back because some of us live in a different America…we really do. We don’t have the same experience as the people who are flying that [flag],” founder Lex Scott explains.  

Scott is the one who wrote that post causing a flurry on social media.

“I watched a bunch of white supremacist march through Philadelphia with American flags and then I waited for outrage. No outrage came… which made me angry. Then I realized the Ku Klux Klan marches with that flag, patriot front, proud boys, oath keepers, the three percenters, and I’ve never heard outrage about them using the flag for hate… so I said what a lot of us are thinking,” states Scott.