São Paulo municipality bans racist symbols ahead of Confederate Party

The town of Santa Bárbara d’Oeste, in São Paulo state, has become notorious for holding an annual festival celebrating the city’s Confederate American founders, who left the U.S. after losing the Civil War in the 1860s and settled in southeastern Brazil.

The so-called Confederate Party has come in for considerable criticism and ridicule, due to its liberal use of the controversial Confederate flag. However, the local legislature has sought to push back on this negative image, approving a law that bans “flags, names, emblems, ornaments, or other forms of expression that incite or represent an offense to racial diversity.”

The legislation puts this year’s edition of the festival at risk, though the organizers have yet to comment on whether they will be forced to postpone or cancel the event — or whether they plan on abiding with the newly ratified law.

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