No, The Confederate Flag & The Pride Flag Aren't "The Exact Same Thing"

We can't believe we have to explain this, but the Confederate flag and the Pride flag are not "the exact same thing." But apparently, Republican commentator and author Star Parker thinks they are.

The Huffington Post noted that Parker was invited as a guest on Tuesday's episode of Fox & Friends to discuss Nancy Pelosi's statement on Monday calling for Donald Trump to fire chief strategist Steve Bannon, following the violence in Charlottesville.

Fox & Friends co-host, Steve Doocy, had asked for Parker's thoughts on Pelosi's statement, particularly Pelosi's comment that "It shouldn't take the president of the United States two days to summon the basic decency to condemn murder and violence by Nazis and white supremacists."

In a video captured by Media Matters, Parker can be seen responding by comparing the Confederate flag to the Pride flag, for some reason.

"That is not what happened," Parker began. "Nancy Pelosi is exploiting an opportunity that they think will play to their side. On Saturday, there were two sides that were in an American city that were — then it was escalating very rapidly.

"But you know what's really interesting and really incredible irony here is the same people that are demanding that the Confederate flag comes down are the same people that are insisting that the rainbow flag goes up," she added. "These two flags represent the exact same thing. That certain people groups are not welcome here."

Since it seems like we really do need to explain this, these two flags are completely different, and come from completely different contexts. The Confederate flag is a symbol of divisiveness, one that stands for a war fought to keep People Of Color enslaved. While some may see it as a symbol of Southern pride, it's hard to separate it from a history steeped in hatred.

"When someone says it’s about history, well, that particular history is inseparable from hate, because it is about hate,” Matthew Guterl, a professor of Africana and American studies at Brown University, told the Washington Post back in 2015. "It’s about racism, and it’s about slavery."

The Pride flag, on the other hand, is a symbol of love and acceptance. And while Parker's comment that the flags say that "certain people groups are not welcome here" might apply to the Confederate flag, the Pride flag has never been meant to exclude people. In fact, in some parts of the world, it's evolving to do the exact opposite.

So, no, these two things are not alike — please don't compare one to the other.