Kanye West wears Confederate flag jacket: 'I made it my flag'

(UPI) -- Barneys is already embroiled in a lawsuit over alleged incidents of racial profiling, so the high-end retailer might not have been too happy with Kanye West's wardrobe when the 36-year-old rapper stepped into its New York store on Saturday.

Photographers snapped photos of the newly engaged performer wearing a Confederate flag -- used to represent the south during the Civil War -- on his bomber jacket. The controversial emblem is often seen as a modern-day symbol of racism.

"React how you want," West told Los Angeles radio station 97.1 AMP Monday.

Any energy is good energy. You know the Confederate flag represented slavery in a way -- that's my abstract take on what I know about it. So I made the song 'New Slaves.' So I took the Confederate flag and made it my flag. It's my flag. Now what are you going to do?

"It's colorless also," West said later. "It's super-'hood and super-white-boy-approved at the same time."