GEORGIA —
The Rev.
Jesse Jackson called on the players in next week's Super Bowl to wear the
American flag on their helmets to protest the Confederate battle flag contained
within Georgia's state banner.
"As we approach the Super Bowl game, we're in the awkward and disgraceful position of playing the Super Bowl game — the most watched event in America — under the Confederate flag," Jackson said Monday in a telephone interview from Chicago, the headquarters of his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
However, the National Football League will not allow players to alter their uniforms during Sunday's game in Atlanta's Georgia Dome.
"While we understand the concerns raised by this issue, we are not a political advocacy group," NFL spokesman Joe Browne said. "We are a football league in Atlanta to play our championship game, and our rules prohibit the wearing of any item on game day related to political causes or activities."
The Confederate flag symbolizes slavery and racial supremacy to many blacks and other minorities. Georgia's flag bears the state seal on the left and a representation of the Confederate battle flag on the right.
Jackson said his organization does not plan to boycott the event, but hopes that players for the St. Louis Rams and the Tennessee Titans will show their distaste for the flag by altering their uniforms.
"We're not calling a boycott of the game. We're calling for the flag to come down," he said.
Numerous organizations are observing a boycott of South Carolina to protest the Confederate flag flying over that state's Capitol.
Jackson said he would lead protests against the flag in the Georgia capital Friday, Saturday and Sunday.