Small Confederate flags have periodically been placed next to the Confederate monument beside Mathews County’s historic courthouse for as long as anyone can remember, but now, in the wake of last month’s tragic church shooting in Charleston, S.C., some county residents think it’s time to stop putting the flag of the Confederacy on county-owned property. Others, however, feel the flag represents a proud heritage that should be honored and preserved.

“I think it’s not fair that anyone should have to walk past the Confederate flag to go before the board of supervisors,” said Mathews resident Jen Little.

Little said that she, as a white person, is offended by the flag, and feels that it must be even more offensive to the black community. The battle flag, bearing a St. Andrew’s Cross, has been used since the Civil War by the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacy groups as a symbol of hatred, said Little, and in light of recent events in South Car...