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Michigan Senator Apologizes for Mask That Looked Like Confederate Flag

A Republican state senator in Michigan apologized for wearing a homemade mask that resembled the Confederate battle flag on the Senate floor on Friday.

“I’m sorry for my choice of pattern on the face mask I wore yesterday,” the senator, Dale Zorn, said in a statement released on Saturday, adding that he did not intend to offend anyone.

“However, I realize that I did, and for that I am sorry,” he said. “My actions were an error in judgment for which there are no excuses and I will learn from this episode.”

The senator said he told his wife, who made the mask, that it “probably will raise some eyebrows,” but he initially told WLNS-TV on Friday that it was not a Confederate flag.

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Embracing the Confederate battle flag can signal support for white supremacy or states’ rights, Jenna Bednar, a political-science professor at the University of Michigan, said on Sunday.

“I have no idea what it means to him,” she said, referring to the senator.

Read entire article at New York Times