Asmediacritic Eric Boehlertrecently noted,the liberal opinion site Living Blue in Texas is sounding the alarm about the specific meaning of the black flag and the Republican-fascistssupport for terrorism and other political violence. As historian John Coski writes in, Southerners weren't shy about enlisting the design in the cause of white supremacy. The South Carolina state Capitol began flying the flag in 1962 and never stopped. Its not us thats racial; its them thats racial. They are protected by "law enforcement officers bill of rights" laws in more than a dozen states, which cushion them from the legal fallout of felonies and abuses; by the egregious doctrine of qualified immunity, which shields them from lawsuits against constitutional rights violations; by unions that embrace without qualification the worst offenders in police forces and exercise considerable power over municipal governments with both flush finances and the implicit threat of a heavily armed and punitive membership. As historian David Blight has argued, the invented memory brought together white Northerners and Southerners to emphasize the valor, courage, and sacrifice of soldiers on both sides. Were on Highway 49 south when it pops up: Flag Heads, which sells adult novelties and Confederate tchotchkes. A Confederate flag at an anti-integration rally in Little Rock in 1959. The south was demanding a federal slavery code to force all states to comply with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and return runaways to owners, even as northern states were passing personal liberty laws to circumvent what abolitionists called the bloodhound law. Then Johnson turns to Roof: All of the views and racial hatred symbols that informed his opinion walked into that church with him. "Family history" only became a plausible rationale because of a devil's bargain. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The flag that Roof embraced, which many South Carolinians embrace, does not stand in opposition to this actit endorses it. SteveBannon, Trump's former campaign chairman and White House strategist, has now threatened to recruit Republican-fascist "shock troops" with the apparent goal of underminingthe U.S. government, and by implication multiracial democracy, if and when Trump and the Republicans regaincontrol of both Congress andthe White House. Potter was the president of the local police union . A photo of the man wearing the sweatshirt was just one of the images of hateful symbols that have circulated from the mob, whose violence led to four deaths and wreaked havoc on Congress. But black newspapers didn't buy it: "Have we so soon forgot what the Confederate flag represents?" To others, its a trendy phrase you most likely associate with the new age mentality brought on by the latest Mixed Martial Arts fighting rage to sweep the country. Chauncey DeVega is a senior politics writer for Salon. For four years have I waited, hoped and prayed for the dark clouds to break, and for a restoration of our former sunshine. The two single mothers finish each others sentences, laughing about that time Hentz went into labor where they worked and Massey put her in an office chair to wheel her downstairs to go to the hospital. Enjoy.. Gentlemanly Kevin Davis is surprised when we show up at his large white antebellum-style house in Simpson County. Lindy has thought about our first conversation overnight and wants to understand why I do not support the flag. It means they will execute their enemies. As the practice waned up north, white men rushed to the south, bringing slaves. Chauncey can be followed onTwitterandFacebook. Talia Lavinis a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, GQ, The Village Voice, The New Republic and many more publications. Whats next? A New Jersey man bought a Confederate flag to oppose the Truman administration in 1951. A New York Timeseditorial published two days after four girls were killed in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church claimed segregationists were committing "desecration" of the Confederate symbol. We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and ", it is clearly true that the Americanright isincreasingly willing to accept or condoneviolence as a means of expanding and protecting their social and political power, more than 50 percent of Trump supporters want "red states" to secede from the Union, During an interview with Scientific American magazine, Dr. Bandy Lee, the principal editor of the 2017 bestseller"The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump," explained. The Confederate flag played a big, big part in our history, Ira says. His favorite Mississippi history book is from 1900. The flag was based on the saltire, a common flag symbol sometimes called the Southern cross. because for those who embrace violence, the ones who chose to embrace evil share the same blood. Its message had just become less respectable. , a common flag symbol sometimes called the Southern cross. I would be sad about it, not violently upset. Still, Davis balks at the need to exorcise the emblem from the state flag today out of respect to Mississippians who descended from slaves. Embrace Violence. On a daily basis Fox News and other elements of the right-wing disinformation propaganda machine use, In one troubling new development, Trump supporters have begun flying all-blackAmerican flags, in an implicit threat to harm or kill their opponents meaning nonwhite people, "socialist liberals," Muslims, vaccinated peopleand others deemed to be "enemies" of"real America." Please consider making a one-time contribution to Vox today. It is a way of life. Ultimately, Donald Trump, like other fascist and authoritarian leaders, is, ------------------------------------------, Trump's rallies and gatherings continue to celebrate violence and the prospect of revenge, stochastic terrorism and other techniques to radicalize their audience into committing acts of political violence, theDemocratic Party and the political and news media classin general have remained in denial, and largely passive in response, "Are Your Republican Neighbors Planning on Killing You? The Confederate flag began enjoying unprecedented national popularity and became a cultural symbol after World War II, just as the federal government began trying to make good on its Reconstruction-era civil rights promises. The Confederate flag represents pride in the face of poverty to Massey, who came to Mississippi in 2001, the same year voters decided against changing the state flag. that the flag's Southern cross pointed to "the destiny of the Southern master and his African slave" the Confederacy's hoped-for expansion of slavery into Latin America. Open a museum?, Ive never heard of an apology from the Klan in Franklin County for harassing and assaulting my family while flying that flag. "Shared psychosis" which is also called "folie millions" ["madness for millions"] when occurring at the national level or "induced delusions" refers to the infectiousness of severe symptoms that goes beyond ordinary group psychology. In her speech this week calling for state legislators to remove the flag from the statehouse grounds, Gov. Police continue to operate under layers of legal impunity and institutional protections. Johnson, CEO of the NAACP, says he wishes poor whites would recognize how powerful politicians have long played racial politics with Confederate emblems a deliberate strategy to divide them from people with shared economic interests. Many people were taught certain things.. In response, the Ku Klux Klan surged. Each week, we explore unique solutions to some of the world's biggest problems. The flag, which has gone on to earn its creators company, Thin Blue Line USA, a healthy living selling related merchandise, literalizes this vision: a U.S. flag in a stark photonegative scheme, save for a broad line of blue. The Confederacy itself was founded to preserve slavery and promote white supremacy (see, for example, Mississippi's declaration of secession: "Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery the greatest material interest of the world," or the speech from the Confederacy's vice president that declared the Confederacy's cornerstone "rests upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition"). Come on over! Joe Barnes booms, describing his nearby Seminary home as the one with the US, Confederate and Mississippi flags out front, after I tell him Roslyn sent us. Dylann Roof plundered nine different bodies last night, plundered nine different families of an original member, plundered nine different communities of a singular member. It flew for all colors, black, white, whatever, she says. Last night, Dylann Roof walked into a Charleston church, sat for an hour, and then killed nine people. An Open Letter to the Political Leadership of America, The Ranger Standard: A "Violence Of Action" Excerpt, China Pwns Us: How the Chinese are Buying Up America, Case Study Ramadi: A Rip-It Ranger Looks Back, Remington Tac 14: The Shotgun, That Isnt, Cancel Culture: Black Rifle Coffee Company vs. 2a Bro-Vets. One mans prison sentence for a murder seen by millions on camera is a long way from the transformation we need. The flag that Dylann Roof embraced, which many South Carolinians embrace, endorses the violence he committed. Look at whats happening to our statues! he says. The Confederate battle flag was one of several flags used during the Civil War. The force is organized with military precision and often military equipment. It's this kind of use of the Confederate flag that has made it a cultural marker, shorthand not just for the Confederacy but for a specific strain of white Southern culture. Optimistic takes began to roll out: The world was changing, policing reforming. Yet the Confederate battle flagthe flag of Dylann Roofstill flies on the Capitol grounds in Columbia. You feel I boast of impossibilities due to ego and arrogance. However, to a very select few, its much much more. The systemic problem remains. Mississippi had 436,631, the most in the nation and 55% of the states population. Flags of Our Fathers Directed by Clint EastwoodStarring: Ryan Phillippe (John Bradley), Jesse Bradford (Rene Gagnon), Adam Beach (Ira Hayes), John Benjamin Hickey (Keyes Beech), John Slattery (Bud Gurber), Barry Pepper (Mike Strank), Jamie Bell (Ralph Ignatowski), Paul Walker (Hank Hansen) and Robert Patrick (Colonel Chandler Johnson).Running . Its lingering still out there.. Swastikas and Confederate flags were among the overt hate signs that the insurrection brought into the Capitol. And I would do all this with just few men; hand picked and war hardened. Such a stark symbolic contrast reminds us that our nation's long-standing cultural embrace that equates guns with liberty ignores the degree to which gun violence has historically also meant. She worries that young people now think the flag stands for the KKK. The streets were filled with the opaque greenish mist of chemical weaponry, hanging in stinging clouds that made residents in neighboring apartments cough. The post-war white south embraced the Confederate battle flag, making it their sentimental symbol of the lost cause of the war. There are plenty of big bangs in "Flags of Our Fathers," but because . Thomasa Massey, 49, jumps out of her car at Pearl Park in a majority-white Jackson suburb wearing a T-shirt with Confederate butterflies she designed with Pride, Not Prejudice underneath. 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