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The Confederate flag that has been flying on the South Carolina State Capitol grounds is coming down. Thank God Almighty!

The vote and the signing of the bill were bold statements of respect for the nine innocent victims killed at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston that included the Rev. Clementa Pickney who was also a South Carolina State Senator.

It was also a significant symbolic gesture of hope that our nation, and especially the states of the old Confederacy, will recognize and confront the fact that while the civil rights movement of the 60s brought important gains in racial equality, racism is still present and dangerous to the health and well being of our nation.

But, of course, the controversy over the Confederate flag is far from over.

Right here in Minnesota it raised its ugly head on July 4th in the small town of Albert Lea. A volunteer firemen from the nearby community of Hartland decided to tie a Confederate flag to the back of the fire truck he was driving in the holiday parade.

That set off a firestorm of controversy resulting in his being suspended for his actions.

Defending himself the man said: “I’m sick of the politically correctness, because they are trying to change too much in the United States. Me raising that flag had nothing to do with slavery. It had nothing to do with disrespect towards our vets. It was more of a statement against the PC.”

Since he is not a southerner, and lives about as far from South Carolina as you can get without leaving the country, I suppose he had to come up with some reason to justify such a silly and foolish act so he chose political correctness.

I wish I knew this man because I would like to ask him why in the world he would think that removing the Confederate flag from state capitol grounds is doing what is politically correct.

Besides that, why does he and people like him think “political correctness” is a bad thing? It simple means “agreeing with the idea that people should be careful to not use language or behave in a way that could offend a particular group of people.”

No doubt there are instances when such a concern can be abused, misused, or misconstrued, but at the end of the day trying to be politically correct as a society means making a conscious effort to be sensitive to the impact words and actions have on people and groups in a diverse nation like ours.

But he isn’t upset about “political correctness” only. No, this man connects political correctness with “too much change in the United States.”

I realize that not all change is good or used for good, but change is the stuff of life that is sometimes emotionally trying for people who have difficulty coping with it.

Maybe this fireman who seems about to lose his job is suffering from “future shock,” that emotional upheaval that comes from the rapid rate of cultural change that overwhelms people (see Alvin Toffler’s 1970 book about this phenomenon by the same name).

For example, is he talking about the change that now gets people in trouble for saying and doing things most people recognize as racist when in the past they got away with it?

Or is he troubled by southern state governments trying to find a way to honor their heritage without displaying a flag that reminds many of their own citizens of a shameful and hurtful past?

Perhaps the change that he thinks is just too much has to do with court decisions that ensure equal treatment under the law for all Americans regardless of age, race, religion, or sexual orientation?

Social change usually makes people who are enjoying the benefits of the status quo feel uneasy.

When change comes at warp speed it can discombobulate them, throwing them into “future shock” where they can no longer cope with what is happening.

Yet you would think that that the least they could do is to avoid saying or doing something silly in public, like a firefighter from Minnesota fighting for the right to display a Confederate flag.

But change doesn’t always overwhelm people, and they often do some very good things as they cope and adapt to it, like passing and signing legislation that removes the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Capitol grounds.

I hope one day soon that Minnesota firemen might understand why this change was not too much at all.