SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor says that the Confederate flag shouldn't be flying over government buildings because it symbolizes the fact that the South fought for the ability to own people of color as items to be bought and sold. The Confederate flag's symbolism is the subject of an emotional debate in the South in the aftermath of the massacre of nine blacks by a white gunman in a Charleston, South Carolina church last month. White supremacist and suspected killer Dylann Roof had been pictured holding the Confederate flag before he allegedly carried out the murders. While some people see the flag as a divisive symbol of the South's proslavery legacy, supporters insist the flag is a honorable symbol of regional pride, a mark of respect for Southern soldiers who died in the American Civil War. During an appearance on the July 9 edition of the "Opie Radio" talk show, Taylor weighed in on the Confederate flag controversy, saying: "It's interesting, 'cause everybody talks about heritage versus hate and everything. And it's just, like, history kind of teaches us it is about hate. I mean, you can talk about the General Lee [Robert E. Lee, the leading Confederate General during the U.S. Civil War who has been venerated as a heroic figure in the South] all you want, but it still stands for the fact that you were trying to keep the right to own people." He continued: "I don't get it. It's 2015. It's not like it's fucking 1901. It's 2015. If you can't figure out why it's wrong to put a Confederate flag in front of a place where you're supposed to have fucking equal justice, then you need to go back to fucking sleep, man, 'cause you're never gonna figure it out." Taylor also talked about the fact that Amazon and Walmart have both announced that they will no longer sell Confederate flag merchandise in the wake of the Charleston massacre. He said: "Everybody has the right to free speech, but when you're flying that outside of a government building, it's not right. I'm not taking anyway from anybody's right to wear it it's fine; you can believe what you believe. You can actually superimpose your beliefs and what you think it stands for. 'Cause a lot of people don't understand what it stands for they think it's General Lee, it just represents the South and we're good old boys and whatever, and that's fine, but you don't understand that there's a whole other level that that represents, you know?!" He continued: "So, yeah, on the one hand, Walmart shouldn't have done that, and it's just another fucking overreaction to something that made sense here, but then people just completely overdid it and made it fucking contrite and stupid." Taylor released his third book, "You're Making Me Hate You: A Cantankerous Look At The Common Misconception That Humans Have Any Common Sense Left", on July 7 via Da Capo Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group. The book acts as a commentary on society and pop culture and has been described as "Taylor's take on Peter Griffin's 'You Know What Really Grinds My Gears'." Taylor is promoting the book with a combination of bookstore events and a solo tour which are one-of-a-kind shows featuring readings from the book, acoustic performance, and audience discussion.
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