Take Down The Confederate Flag. Now.

[damnedifIknow]

Last night, Dylann Roof walked into a Charleston church, sat for a moment, and then killed nine people. Roof’s crime cannot be divorced from the ideology of white supremacy which long animated his state nor from its potent symbol—the Confederate flag. Visitors to Charleston have long been treated to South Carolina’s attempt to clean its history and depict its secession as something other than a war to guarantee the enslavement of the majority of its residents. This notion is belied by any serious interrogation of the Civil War and the primary documents of its instigators. Yet the Confederate battle flag—the flag of Dylann Roof—still flies on the Capitol grounds."

The Confederate flag’s defenders often claim it represents “heritage not hate.” I agree—the heritage of White Supremacy was not so much birthed by hate as by the impulse toward plunder. Dylann Roof plundered nine different bodies last night, plundered nine different families of an original member, plundered nine different communities of a singular member. An entire people are poorer for his action. The flag that Roof embraced, which many South Carolinians embrace, does not stand in opposition this act—it endorses it.

* Take down the flag. Take it down now.

Put it in a museum. Inscribe beneath it the years 1861-2015. Move forward. Abandon this charlatanism. Drive out this cult of death and chains. Save your lovely souls. Move forward. Do it now."

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/take-down-the-confederate-flag-now/396290/

[randys1]

1. We should demand it be taken down or a few millions of us should show up and do it for them

And the non racist white folk of America better be on board with this and ready to sacrifice a day or two of their time, because if we dont do the right thing now, we pay a much higher price later

[JustAnotherGen]

2. Mineral Man had the same idea

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6860222
And he's calm and reasonable - he never gets feisty! But he is now.

[jwirr]

22. This is a feisty issue. The flag should go.

[calimary]

5. I'm in. Been agitating for that one all day.

The only thing it's useful for is if it's cut up into five-inch by five-inch squares and placed in public bathrooms. Probably would be nice to wipe one's ass with, since it IS fabric, after all.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/after-charleston-church-shooting-confederate-flag-still-flying-at-the-south-carolina-statehouse/

[jwirr]

23. LOL Great recycling idea.

[Art_from_Ark]

31. But bad for sewer systems

[Ilsa]

27. Great minds...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6857725

Lunchtime, today. I guess getting a good meal helped my brain work better than usual!

[npk]

3. Yeah should be removed and destroyed

But South Carolina was the original state that seceded from the union. It was more than any other state the most ardent in remaining free from the union and opposing any aggression on its right to own slaves. These people that support the confederate flag see themselves as the victims of oppression. You are dealing with people who cannot be reasoned with and that is the problem.

[KT2000]

13. then they need a leader

who takes it down and say "no more."

[exboyfil]

19. South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum

[stage left]

32. I had that for my signature before Bernie.

It's never been truer than it is today.

[Erose999]

4. And the statue of Benjamin Tillman needs to come down too. Melt it down into dildoes so the racists

can go fuck themselves.

[npk]

6. Just look at this. This is what all of us are up against.

[img]?1434647386[/img]

That just about says it all I'm afraid.

[Lilith Rising]

16. Oh my.

That is just so wrong. So, so wrong.

[bluesbassman]

7. Not only flying, but apparently at full mast!

Let that sink in for a minute. Not only were nine citizens of the state brutally slaughtered, but one of the dead was an elected state senator so the appropriate gesture is to lower the flags to half mast, which they did for the US flag and the state flag, yet the Confederate battle flag remains at full mast. Unbelievable.

[madamesilverspurs]

8. ...

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

11. Yep.

It's not rocket science.

[daleanime]

21. +1

[SunSeeker]

9. K & R

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

10. I could not agree with this more strongly. By the faulty SC reasoning, German government should be

flying the Nazi flag to reflect their heritage.

[damnedifIknow]

12. Should have been done way before now

" South Carolina, as a matter of compromise, displays the Confederate flag on a flagpole in front of the state capitol. Because I grew up in the South and believe that the Confederate flag is a very divisive symbol, I have stated publicly a number of times that I believe that South Carolina should remove the flag from the state capitol grounds."
John Edwards

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

15. Absolutely. The very fact that this flag is still flown by a government entity is all the proof

I need that racism and stupidity are widely tolerated, revered even, in our country.

[backscatter712]

14. Better yet, burn the Dixie Swastika.

It's a symbol of slavery, bigotry, hatred and treason.

Hand me one of those flags, and the only way you'll see me fly it is when it's on fire.

[calimary]

25. Like that!

The "Dixie Swastika" - SUPERB description, backscatter712! Sure spells it out.

[Ilsa]

28. That's what I'll call it tomorrow when I call the state capitol.

Maybe we can start with phone calls. Flood them.

[stage left]

35. I called today

and I will be delighted to call again tomorrow.

[eridani]

17. Intolerable!

The Confederate flag is still flying high at the South Carolina capitol building today

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/18/1394356/-The-Confederate-flag-is-still-flying-high-at-the-South-Carolina-capitol-building-today

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley ordered flags to be flown at half-staff today in aftermath of the tragedy that occurred at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and in memory of those who died, but it seems her directive is not applicable to the controversial Confederate flag that flies in front of the capitol building.

[heaven05]

18. I said earlier

I don't trust her and that she was faking it at her 'news conference'. Now I'm sure.

[safeinOhio]

20. Don't just take it down, raise

the white flag of surrender. The only Confederate flag that ever mattered.

[Faygo Kid]

24. Damned straight. Don't give us tears, gov. Give us action.

We all know what that flag stands for now.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/18/1394356/-The-Confederate-flag-is-still-flying-high-at-the-South-Carolina-capitol-building-today

[bigtree]

26. rec

[TimeToEvolve]

29. a flaming arrow ought to do the job

[realFedUp]

30. Mark Sanford doesn't feel it needs to come down.

Was on with Chris Hayes

[stage left]

34. Mark Sanford, like Lindsey Graham, is an idiot.

He couldn't find the Applachian Trail with a map and a flashlight.

[stage left]

33. It should be taken down

and burned. I called the governor's office and the offices of my state senator ,Mike Fair, and my representative for the Taylors district, Daniel Hamilton to tell them the Confederate flag needs to go. No ifs, ands, or buts. This is not the Goddamned confederacy, damn it. For what it's worth, I'm a native South Carolinian. I made sure to tell them that, just in case they thought I was a Liberal from up North. Daily Kos has a petition up asking for the removal of the flag from the statehouse grounds. https://www.dailykos.com/campaigns/1308