Che Ambe
The confederate flag is a white supremacist symbol masqueraded as a tribute to fallen soldiers of the nation. The flag is a symbol of southern rebellion to the determination of the United States, to live to its ideals of one nation under God, and equality for all. Allowing the flag to fly unperturbed while the white and blue stripes winnow half-staff (in honor of those blacks killed because of the color of their skin) is capitulation to the same people who more than 150 years ago believed that the buying and selling of Negros was right; that separating children and families was alright, and that the black man truly was and still 3/5 of a man.
For political expediency, some GOP politicians continue to embarrass themselves that the states have the right to decide the fate of the confederate flag; a flag that symbolizes inequality and a reminder of the most heinous crime ever committed by humans to fellow humans – slavery. Allowing states to adore the same soldiers who died trying to split America disqualifies these same politicians from seeking any place to serve all Americans. It is the same people whom since Obama’s election have not stopped to rally their followers to “take back their country”. The question then is which country and from whom? My answer is, the black Negros who belong to the cotton plantations apt for a literacy test to exercise the basic right to vote. The same repressive Jim Crow laws that among other things say “separate is equal”, even when the Negros lost their lives in battle for the country they call home.
The flag of slavery, and American division belongs to the archives. Can we do this to honor the blood of Abraham Lincoln who saved this nation, freed the slaves and paid with his life? Can we all squint at the Confederate flag the way we do the Nazis?
globalgong 