‘Barring the Confederate flag was part of the CMA’s updated policy to protect the safety of fans, the organization said in a statement to the Tennessean newspaper.
“This year’s CMA Fest is our first major fan-facing event in nearly three years. We have always had policies in place that protect the safety of our fans and ban discrimination, but we felt it was important to further refine our language to explicitly outline what will and will not be tolerated,” the statement said.
The statement didn’t go into detail about safety issues concerning the flag,
but the battle flags can be be intimidating and infuriating, and a flashpoint for conflict and violence.’
Indeed.