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SASKATOON • A Saskatchewan man says he filed a human rights complaint because negative media coverage of the Confederate flag debate is discriminatory and promotes hatred.

Dale Pippin’s family is originally from North Carolina, but settled in Canada 110 years ago. He takes great pride in his Southern U.S. heritage and displays the Confederate flag on his vehicle, although he’s more reluctant to do so given the intense debate about the controversial symbol, he said.

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For Pippin, the flag represents his family roots and the sacrifices his ancestors made fighting in the Confederate army during the American Civil War; for others, the flag represents a legacy of slavery and pro-racist views.

“Racism and hate have been linked to the flag for far too long and it’s incorrect,” Pippin said, noting history is filled with “bad instances” when people have linked themselves with other symbols.

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Recently, the debate about displaying the flag intensified after nine people were killed at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C. Photos of alleged shooter Dylann Roof posing with a vehicle with Confederate flag plates quickly circulated online.