Walt Disney World is undergoing a lot of changes, and most of them are of a constructive nature, but not all of them are seen as such. One day after a bust of Bill Cosby was removed from Disney’s Hollywood Studios, a Confederate flag banner has been removed from a flag display at Epcot.
A version of the Confederate flag was hanging in a flag display at the American Adventure pavilion in Epcot. According to the Orlando Sentinel , the flag has been removed and Disney has acknowledged that, but would not give further comment on it.
More than 40 banners from the history of America were a part of the display, and the one removed was the third of the Confederacy. That flag was different from the battle flag, as the “Southern Cross” does not take up the full side of it.
Sheri Labowski is a tourist visiting Walt Disney World from Connecticut, and believed that the right thing was done in removing the Confederate flag.
“I think in this day and age we shouldn’t be promoting a part of our history we’re not proud of.”
The flag was removed from Disney’s Epcot in the wake of the Charleston shooting slaying that left nine people dead at a historic black church. Accused shooter Dylann Roof shouted racial slurs at the church-goers and opened fire.
A number of photos have appeared online that show Roof posing with a Confederate flag.
The removal of the Confederate flag from Epcot comes one day after a statue of Bill Cosby was removed from Disney’s Hollywood Studios. USA Today reports that his bust was taken out of the park after court documents revealed that Cosby admitted he obtained Quaaludes with the intent of giving them to women he wished to have sex with.
Bill Cosby’s statue had been sitting in a section called Disney’s Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame Plaza. A number of other famous people throughout time also have their statues on display there.
Walt Disney World has recently done other changes in their parks due to guest complaints, and those include the total banning of Selfie Sticks and removal of animal poop candy from Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Changes coming to Walt Disney World aren’t just constructive, or in the nature of enhancements. When controversy arrives, Disney often looks to distance themselves from it, and the removal of the Confederate flag from Epcot simply does just that by not having it on display any longer.
[Image via Danny Cox]