AUBURN, MI -- For the second day in a row, Confederate flags waved from truck beds outside Bay City Western High School.

This time, though, they were met with some opposing protesters.

What began with six trucks bearing the flags on Tuesday, April 17, parked along Bryant Boulevard, adjacent to the school at 500 W. Midland Road, has grown to feature dozens of vehicles parked in the same spot on Wednesday. A few counter-protesters displayed rainbow flags in support of LGBTQ rights and one sign that says "Hate Not Heritage," and another that says "Black Lives Matter."

Confederate Flags at Bay City High School Confederate flag-bearing trucks met with opposition outside Bay City Western High Posted by The Bay City Times on Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Bay County Sheriff Troy R. Cunningham said deputies are monitoring the situation in case violence erupts.

"It's racism," said Kendrix Szilagyi, a Western student and one of the counter-protest's organizers. "We understand that (officials) can't stop them but something needs to be done. We have such a small minority population of students and we're in a conservative area. We're a white-majority school. It's making some of the students and people feel uncomfortable and unwelcome."

Students from Bay City Central High School had visited Western earlier in the morning to help in the counter-protest, Szilagyi said. She added many of those with the Confederate flags are not Western students, which school officials confirmed.

Cameron Myers, a student waving the Confederate flag, said he's not motivated by racism.

"It's not about racism; it's a country boy thing," he said, adding he thinks the symbol has been present since the founding of the United States. "If we were going over there and saying racist slurs and cussing them out, that would be another thing."

Myers also said a Confederate flag of his was torn from his vehicle on school property last week. He said it was an "injustice" that no one was punished for the deed.

"If we went over there and tore down their rainbow flag, we'd all be expelled," he said.

Bay City Schools Superintendent Stephen Bigelow said a challenge facing educators is having good discourse within the classroom.

"I'd prefer these discussions happen in classrooms rather than in a parking lot where teachers are there to lead in meaningful discourse," Bigelow said. "School is going on as usual and things are running smoothly within the building itself.

"One thing Western is going to do is make sure our kids feel safe in school and we're also talking with kids and working with them in case there are any racial slurs or anything like that going on."

Bigelow said staff plan on launching an internal investigation to see if Tuesday's display was racially motivated.

"I hope that's not the case, but we need to make sure that's not happening," he said.

The history of the colloquially dubbed Confederate flag is typically addressed in the school's curriculum, though Bigelow said staff are considering addressing the symbol's origins and context in special sessions in light of this week's incidents.

"It sheds new light on it," he said. "It's obviously a hot topic. I talked with the principal this morning and we're going to look at what is going on and (will consider) having education revolve around that to address the issue itself. If there are some racial underpinnings to this, obviously we have to do more education."

Historically, the Confederacy never adopted the Southern Cross symbol as its national flag. The second and third of the short-lived proto-state's three flags featured the symbol in the upper left-hand corner, analogous to the stars on the blue backdrop of the U.S. flag.

What is commonly referred to as the Confederate flag today, with the rectangular image filling the entirety of the material, was used by Confederate Army units.

"They're doing their legal constitutional duty," said Auburn Mayor Lee Kilbourn of those displaying the flags.

"I'm not saying I'm supporting it or for or against it, but people in this country have to start realizing we have to tolerate all peoples' views. That's preached a lot out of Washington and a lot of other places, but it's not practiced. Democrats don't like Republicans' views and Republicans don't like Democrats' views. People have to grow up and need to respect other peoples' views."

Kilbourn said he received a call Tuesday from a citizen who was "quite incensed," and suggested banning parking along Bryant Boulevard when vehicles are displaying flags.

"How is that treating all people alike?" Kilbourn said. "I can't ban parking on streets because they have flags on pickups, which is their constitutional right. What do I start banning next?

Kilbourn added he doesn't know the intent of those who displayed the flags.

"If the motive was to intimidate, that was wrong," he said. "Trying to intimidate by race, color, creed, political belief, or religious belief is wrong. We have to respond to that in the right way so that the right message gets out.

"Kids go to school to learn and express," the mayor continued. "Part of the beauty of education system is that kids get to express their views back and forth. That's how we learn and grow and change our minds. Hopefully, we have the right environment at Western, whether it's through the history teachers or the guidance counselors that these subjects can be openly talked about in a civilized manner and people can better understand why they do think like that."

After the flags appeared Tuesday, 17-year-old junior Kendall Frost told The Bay City Times-MLive some of her fellow classmates organized the display on social media in what she believes was intended to intimidate and bully certain black students.

Kendall, who is black, provided screen caps of text messages with racial slurs. She also said some students told her and other black classmates they "shouldn't go to Western because of our skin tone."

In a Snapchat video taken by a Western student acquired by MLive, footage depicts at least three males in a vehicle recording the flags' demonstration. At one point, one of the males can be heard swearing and using a racial slur as text appears on screen stating "Fly em high boys."

Frost said Wednesday her car is blocked in by two trucks bearing the Confederate flag.

"This is ridiculous," she said. "We will be here all day protesting."

Matthew Felan, president and CEO of Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance, said the Confederate flag display is disconcerting.

"Anytime we see anything like this, we care about it deeply because we want to be a welcoming and inclusive community for business," Felan said. "We want to celebrate and encourage diversity and diverse backgrounds. When you see things like this, it grabs your attention. We don't want to look like an unwelcoming community to anybody on the outside. We want people to feel comfortable to come and invest here.

"Whenever you see this, there's a perception," he continued, "and what perception do we want to give to people? And not even perception -- what are we? If there is a problem, let's figure it out. We can't ignore these things and look the other way when they happen. Something is definitely going on."