--- title: Obama Confederate Flag: Protesters Greet President in Oklahoma description: As many as 10 people were spotted waving flags as Obama's motorcade pulled up to the hotel he stayed at in Oklahoma City Wednesday night. canonical: https://time.com/3960867/obama-confederate-flag-oklahoma/ author: Jacob Koffler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-16T15:29:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:32.141Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama Greeted by Confederate Flag Wavers in Oklahoma og:description: The protesters were led by a black man og:url: https://time.com/3960867/obama-confederate-flag-oklahoma/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt982b7187d4a96815/69885b242dce012e639e4a6b/oklahoma-city-obama-confederate-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4732 og:image:height: 2662 og:image:alt: Barack Obama confederate flag oklahoma og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Greeted by Confederate Flag Wavers in Oklahoma twitter:description: The protesters were led by a black man twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt982b7187d4a96815/69885b242dce012e639e4a6b/oklahoma-city-obama-confederate-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Greeted by Confederate Flag Wavers in Oklahoma > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Watch: The Confederate Flag Removed From SC Statehouse [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: The Confederate Flag Removed From SC Statehouse](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xKTPTJGx.m3u8) (1:36)  _Published 2015-07-10. Watch: The Confederate Flag Removed From SC Statehouse_ by [Jacob Koffler](https://time.com/author/jacob-koffler/) ## Jacob Koffler Jul 16, 2015 3:29 PM UTC  People wave Confederate flags outside the hotel where President Barack Obama is staying on July 15, 2015, in Oklahoma City. People wave Confederate flags outside the hotel where President Barack Obama is staying on July 15, 2015, in Oklahoma City. Evan Vucci—AP by [Jacob Koffler](https://time.com/author/jacob-koffler/) ## Jacob Koffler Jul 16, 2015 3:29 PM UTC Protesters waving Confederate flags [greeted](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/in-oklahoma-protesters-greet-obama-with-confederate-flags-120207.html) President Obama on Wednesday as he arrived in Oklahoma City. The handful of demonstrators—who told reporters they believe the Confederate flag is a symbol of heritage, not hate—were seen with the flags as Obama’s motorcade pulled up to the hotel where he stayed Wednesday night. The flag wavers were led by a black man named Andrew Duncomb, who calls himself the “Black Rebel.” “We don’t believe it’s a symbol of racism,” Duncomb told [KFOR](http://kfor.com/2015/07/15/we-dont-believe-its-a-symbol-of-racism-confederate-flags-fly-downtown-as-president-drives-in/). “They’re blaming the racist problems on the flag and not on the real problems of America.” Obama was in Oklahoma to deliver a speech at Durant High School on the expansion of economic opportunity, including for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. On Thursday, he was set to make history as the first sitting president to visit a federal prison, heading to a correctional facility in El Reno. Obama has publicly criticized flying the Confederate flag, saying it “[belongs in a museum](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/19/obama-confederate-flag%5Fn%5F7624034.html).” \[[_Politico_](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/in-oklahoma-protesters-greet-obama-with-confederate-flags-120207.html)\] ## Transcript [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] [ MUSIC ] [ NOISE ] [ UNKNOWN ] America [ APPLAUSE ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3960867/obama-confederate-flag-oklahoma/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3960867/obama-confederate-flag-oklahoma/"},"headline":"Obama Greeted by Confederate Flag Wavers in Oklahoma","datePublished":"2015-07-16T15:29:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:58:32.141Z","description":"The protesters were led by a black man","url":"https://time.com/3960867/obama-confederate-flag-oklahoma/","keywords":["White House","President Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt982b7187d4a96815/69885b242dce012e639e4a6b/oklahoma-city-obama-confederate-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jacob Koffler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jacob-koffler/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt982b7187d4a96815/69885b242dce012e639e4a6b/oklahoma-city-obama-confederate-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Barack Obama confederate flag oklahoma","caption":"Barack Obama confederate flag oklahoma","creditText":"Evan Vucci—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3960867/obama-confederate-flag-oklahoma/","name":"Obama Greeted by Confederate Flag Wavers in Oklahoma"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch: The Confederate Flag Removed From SC Statehouse","description":"Watch: The Confederate Flag Removed From SC Statehouse","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xKTPTJGx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-10T14:42:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xKTPTJGx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3960867/obama-confederate-flag-oklahoma/","duration":"PT1M36S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3960867/obama-confederate-flag-oklahoma/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```