Amelia Mornes-Njoka thought her son, Austen, was in good hands when he played with the Special Olympics flag football team in Lewisville, Texas. The 21-year-old with autism has been a part of the team for eight years. But when he came home earlier this month wearing a Confederate flag hat, both mother and son had to rethink their trust.
“Everybody just kind of went into an uproar because he comes in wearing this hat like it’s just a regular hat,” Mornes-Njoka told local news station CBS-DFW.
Austen Mornes said he had asked one of his coaches about the Confederate flag on the hat, the significance of which he didn’t know.
“He told me, like, put it on, keep it on, show it to your mom and stuff,” Mornes told CBS-DFW. “I said, ‘What does the flag stand for?’ I said, ‘I don’t have no clue,’ and he says, ‘Freedom.’”
