(theGrio) The Confederate flag and Dylann Storm Roof are perhaps the most potent and virulent symbols of racial hatred these days, and understandably so. When Roof committed mass murder by gunning down nine black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17, he did so in the spirit of the Confederacy he seems to love so much.
However, as much as we are paying attention to this madman and a Rebel flag which defended slavery, segregation and lynching — and we should — let us not lose sight of the bigger picture. These are merely extreme symbols of racism. Ultimately, we must focus on systemic racism, the pervasive forms of racial oppression that plague our economy, the education system, law enforcement and the judicial system. And if we ignore this painful reality, then we are merely opting for symbolism rather than real change.
Showing posts with label neo-Confederate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neo-Confederate. Show all posts
July 3, 2015
May 22, 2015
Black artist will burn, bury the Confederate flag across the South on Memorial Day
(theGrio) Can you think of a better way for a black man to spend Memorial Day than to burn a Confederate flag?
As was reported in the Orlando Sentinel, an artist will do exactly that, with plans to make it happen in all the states throughout the former Confederacy.
John Sims, an artist from Sarasota, Florida, is honoring the constitutional right of self-expression by staging burnings and burials of the Rebel flag, that troublesome symbol of the Old South that many, particularly African-Americans, associate with slavery, white supremacy and state-sponsored terrorism and lynchings.
“We are in America, and people have the right to fly whatever flag [they want],” Sims said. “And I have the right to bury whatever flag, and to burn whatever flag.”
As was reported in the Orlando Sentinel, an artist will do exactly that, with plans to make it happen in all the states throughout the former Confederacy.
John Sims, an artist from Sarasota, Florida, is honoring the constitutional right of self-expression by staging burnings and burials of the Rebel flag, that troublesome symbol of the Old South that many, particularly African-Americans, associate with slavery, white supremacy and state-sponsored terrorism and lynchings.
“We are in America, and people have the right to fly whatever flag [they want],” Sims said. “And I have the right to bury whatever flag, and to burn whatever flag.”
December 2, 2014
The Republican Party Takes a Stand For Jim Crow
In the South, the more things change, the more they remain the same.
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu angered Republicans when she pointed out the obvious, which is that President Obama’s unpopularity in the South is tied to the problem of race.
“I'll be very, very honest with you. The South has not always been the friendliest place for African-Americans,” Landrieu said. “It's been a difficult time for the president to present himself in a very positive light as a leader."
In response, Governor Bobby Jindal (R-Louisiana) called Landrieu’s statement “remarkably divisive.” Meanwhile, state Republican Party Chairman Roger Villere said her remarks were “insulting to me and to every other Louisianian,” adding “Louisiana deserves better than a senator who denigrates her own people by questioning and projecting insidious motives on the very people she claims to represent.”
August 2, 2013
A civil war rematch over voting rights
Today in the Guardian I discuss the current Republican war on voting rights taking place in the South.
Nearly 150 years after the end of the US civil war, the South and the federal government are poised for a rematch over the voting rights of black Americans, and ultimately over the fundamental rights of all Americans. Once again, the former Confederate states are determined to defend their traditions and way of life, while the Union forces in the North – the federal government – are positioning themselves to defend justice and equality.
But this time, in an ironic twist, two black men – President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder – are leading the charge.
Click HERE for more.
July 12, 2013
This week in theGrio: Secret Spying Court and Racist Ron and Rand Paul
Check out these latest pieces from me in MSNBC's theGrio this week:
The first deals with the African American judge who presides over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a secret Supreme Court that rubber stamps the government's efforts to get into our business. Click HERE for more.
The second story is a look at the racist history of libertarian-conservative politicians Ron and Rand Paul, and how Rand's affiliations with a neo-Confederate admirer of John Wilkes Booth could damage his presidential chances in 2016. Click HERE for more.
April 20, 2010
Poor Whites Get Confederate History Month & Coal Mine Disasters
I have a question and I need a quick answer: Exactly what benefit is derived from the commemoration of Confederate History Month? Does it increase the standard of living for its celebrants, presumably poor and working-class whites? Does it provide them better wages, benefits and working conditions? I need to know…
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is teaching us the realities of the present-day Republican Party. When you want to appeal to the ultra-Right base, you’ll have to dabble in white supremacy, plain and simple. The Governor issued a proclamation in honor of Confederate History Month, “to understand the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens during the period of the Civil War.” The original proclamation failed to mention slavery even once. In response, McDonnell said that “there were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states. Obviously, it involved slavery. It involved other issues. But I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for Virginia.”
Then, he issued a clarification, with a revised proclamation stating that “the institution of slavery led to this war and was an evil and inhumane practice that deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights and all Virginians are thankful for its permanent eradication from our borders.” Mississippi Governor and former RNC chair Haley Barbour – who recently characterized himself as a “fat redneck” – has drawn praise from the national chaplain of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans (SCV) for failing to mention slavery in his state’s Confederate Heritage Month proclamation. By the way, the SCV is a neo-Confederate group which, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, is dominated by radical racists, and whose leaders are tied to segregation and white supremacy.
According to Barbour, this whole slavery flap isn’t worth “diddly”. And as if to ignore the legacy of Jim Crow, McDonnell has brought back the literacy test for nonviolent felons who want to restore their voting rights.
So, once again I ask, why celebrate the Confederacy? McDonnell said it would increase tourism for Virginia, which I suppose is a valid reason if you plan to host a Klan convention. Don’t get me wrong, I think we should learn as much as we can about that important time in history. But these proclamations are not the stuff of history buffs, antique collectors and Civil War re-enactors. Rather, this is the glorification of slavery, domestic terrorism, secession and treason.
To invoke the Confederacy in 2010 is to throw a bone to disaffected white voters. They are bitter and angry because they can’t make ends meet, and rightly so. But their anger is misdirected. They want their country back, and hope to return to the “good ol’ days”, which was pretty horrible for minorities, women, the poor, and everyone except for rich white WASPy dudes with connections. They’re angry over all of these changes in society, with brown-skinned, Spanish-speaking illegal immigrants coming into the country and taking all of the good jobs picking fruit, washing dishes and busing tables. And of course there’s that black Muslim-socialist-fascist president who can’t find his birth certificate, and who made good on his promise to slip black folks some reparations and civil rights in the form of health care reform. Lord, have mercy.
So, the powerful always threw the bone to white folk of meager means, and many of them took it and ran, even though it was against their interests to do so. The Confederate soldiers who supposedly fought and died so bravely did it to maintain a system of slavery that kept themselves poor and dumb, and rendered their labor unnecessary. But at least they were white, so they thought. They remained poor during Jim Crow, but at least they could rally around the Confederate flag, and against black people. And that flag was a tool used to fight integration, civil rights, and the hopes and dreams of African-Americans. It was no coincidence, for instance, that Georgia added the stars and bars to their flag in 1956, after the 1954 Brown Supreme Court decision. From the 1960s on, Dixiecrats went Republican for the most part, and the GOP became the standard bearer for race card politics with a winning Southern Strategy. Meanwhile, the party of Lincoln – which once claimed over 1,500 black elected officials throughout the nation – has been rendered a Southern-based white nationalist party in the twenty-first century. Now that’s progress.
This is where the tragic West Virginia coal mine disaster comes in. “Low information” voters, as they are called, get very little from the GOP aside from empty-calorie values issues such as race, abort ion bans, gun rights and legalized homophobia. Republican policies, with help from corporate Democrats, have actually widened the gap between rich and poor since Reagan. Inequality is now worse than it was right before the Great Depression. Trickle-down economics has created a massive redistribution of wealth, making America far less socially mobile than those so-called socialist European nations the teabag crowd so enthusiastically derides. A big part of this bonanza for the rich has been deregulation. A Republican utopia would be completely free from regulations because they stand in the way of total profits, and the workers be damned. Massey Energy – the company whose millions of dollars in safety violations led to the recent West Virginia mine explosion that killed 29 workers, the worst such disaster in 40 years – gives 91 percent of its money to Republican candidates. Massey CEO Don Blankenship said safety regulators are “as silly as global warming,” and argued that the Mine Safety and Health Administration “seeks power over coal miners.”
Perhaps Republicans should spend more time caring about workplace safety and the well being of people, rather than pander to their voters with empty calories, nonsense values and racial hatred. These white voters, to their detriment, have fallen for the okeedoke every time. The challenge for progressives is to sustain a movement that welcomes these poor and working-class whites, and shows them how to act in their own economic self interests for a change.
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is teaching us the realities of the present-day Republican Party. When you want to appeal to the ultra-Right base, you’ll have to dabble in white supremacy, plain and simple. The Governor issued a proclamation in honor of Confederate History Month, “to understand the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens during the period of the Civil War.” The original proclamation failed to mention slavery even once. In response, McDonnell said that “there were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states. Obviously, it involved slavery. It involved other issues. But I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for Virginia.”
Then, he issued a clarification, with a revised proclamation stating that “the institution of slavery led to this war and was an evil and inhumane practice that deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights and all Virginians are thankful for its permanent eradication from our borders.” Mississippi Governor and former RNC chair Haley Barbour – who recently characterized himself as a “fat redneck” – has drawn praise from the national chaplain of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans (SCV) for failing to mention slavery in his state’s Confederate Heritage Month proclamation. By the way, the SCV is a neo-Confederate group which, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, is dominated by radical racists, and whose leaders are tied to segregation and white supremacy.
According to Barbour, this whole slavery flap isn’t worth “diddly”. And as if to ignore the legacy of Jim Crow, McDonnell has brought back the literacy test for nonviolent felons who want to restore their voting rights.
So, once again I ask, why celebrate the Confederacy? McDonnell said it would increase tourism for Virginia, which I suppose is a valid reason if you plan to host a Klan convention. Don’t get me wrong, I think we should learn as much as we can about that important time in history. But these proclamations are not the stuff of history buffs, antique collectors and Civil War re-enactors. Rather, this is the glorification of slavery, domestic terrorism, secession and treason.
To invoke the Confederacy in 2010 is to throw a bone to disaffected white voters. They are bitter and angry because they can’t make ends meet, and rightly so. But their anger is misdirected. They want their country back, and hope to return to the “good ol’ days”, which was pretty horrible for minorities, women, the poor, and everyone except for rich white WASPy dudes with connections. They’re angry over all of these changes in society, with brown-skinned, Spanish-speaking illegal immigrants coming into the country and taking all of the good jobs picking fruit, washing dishes and busing tables. And of course there’s that black Muslim-socialist-fascist president who can’t find his birth certificate, and who made good on his promise to slip black folks some reparations and civil rights in the form of health care reform. Lord, have mercy.
So, the powerful always threw the bone to white folk of meager means, and many of them took it and ran, even though it was against their interests to do so. The Confederate soldiers who supposedly fought and died so bravely did it to maintain a system of slavery that kept themselves poor and dumb, and rendered their labor unnecessary. But at least they were white, so they thought. They remained poor during Jim Crow, but at least they could rally around the Confederate flag, and against black people. And that flag was a tool used to fight integration, civil rights, and the hopes and dreams of African-Americans. It was no coincidence, for instance, that Georgia added the stars and bars to their flag in 1956, after the 1954 Brown Supreme Court decision. From the 1960s on, Dixiecrats went Republican for the most part, and the GOP became the standard bearer for race card politics with a winning Southern Strategy. Meanwhile, the party of Lincoln – which once claimed over 1,500 black elected officials throughout the nation – has been rendered a Southern-based white nationalist party in the twenty-first century. Now that’s progress.
This is where the tragic West Virginia coal mine disaster comes in. “Low information” voters, as they are called, get very little from the GOP aside from empty-calorie values issues such as race, abort ion bans, gun rights and legalized homophobia. Republican policies, with help from corporate Democrats, have actually widened the gap between rich and poor since Reagan. Inequality is now worse than it was right before the Great Depression. Trickle-down economics has created a massive redistribution of wealth, making America far less socially mobile than those so-called socialist European nations the teabag crowd so enthusiastically derides. A big part of this bonanza for the rich has been deregulation. A Republican utopia would be completely free from regulations because they stand in the way of total profits, and the workers be damned. Massey Energy – the company whose millions of dollars in safety violations led to the recent West Virginia mine explosion that killed 29 workers, the worst such disaster in 40 years – gives 91 percent of its money to Republican candidates. Massey CEO Don Blankenship said safety regulators are “as silly as global warming,” and argued that the Mine Safety and Health Administration “seeks power over coal miners.”
Perhaps Republicans should spend more time caring about workplace safety and the well being of people, rather than pander to their voters with empty calories, nonsense values and racial hatred. These white voters, to their detriment, have fallen for the okeedoke every time. The challenge for progressives is to sustain a movement that welcomes these poor and working-class whites, and shows them how to act in their own economic self interests for a change.
April 21, 2008
Senator Hillary Clinton Must Explain The Praising of a Group of KKK Supporters
A BlackCommentator.com Investigative Report
By David A. Love, BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board
and Peter Gamble, BlackCommentator.com Publisher
April 20, 2008
Note: In a year of political absurdities, where one candidate--Senator Obama--is being held accountable for his friends and acquaintances and everything that they have said and done during their life times, we have stumbled across a problem. Had Senator Clinton not been as self-righteous in her attacks on Senator Obama concerning his associates, including Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Chicago activist Bill Ayers, the following would probably be a footnote and blemish--albeit significant--on the Presidency of one William Jefferson Clinton. Yet, insofar as Senator Clinton has decided to hold her opponent responsible for the words and actions of others, we pose this question: should Senator Clinton be careful where she throws bricks? Now Senator Hillary Clinton (D, NY) has some explaining to do.
BlackCommentator.com has learned that Bill Clinton, while president, repeatedly praised the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). This is an organization that many, including some whites and a former U.S. senator from Illinois, have called racist.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, the UDC is a neo-Confederate organization which is affiliated with such white supremacist groups as the Council of Conservative Citizens and the League of the South. Formed in 1894, the UDC limits its membership to women who are related to Confederate veterans of the “War Between the States.”
In 2000, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that "[a]lthough the UDC promotes an image of genteel Southern ladies…its publications” tell a different story, adding that recently the “UDC’s president, Mrs. William Wells, shared the podium with…white supremacist lawyer Kirk Lyons.”
In a 1989 UDC Magazine article, Walter W. Lee argued that “purchasers of the slaves” were actually victims of slavery, while “the worst suffering group among those engaged in the trade” were “the crews of slave ships.” Lee also made light of the horrific and deadly Middle Passage, claiming that "the sixteen inches of deck space allotted each slave is not all that much smaller that (sic) the eighteen inches that the Royal Navy allowed for each sailor's hammock and the slaves rapidly had more room due to the much higher death rate."
In her quest for the presidency, the U.S. Senator from New York has presented herself as a qualified expert on civil rights and a participant in the civil rights movement.
Senator Clinton has also put forth her belief that all candidates for the office should be thoroughly scrutinized, that no one should be immune, and all of the presidential candidates should be required to justify their stance on the issues before the voters and explain any contradictions that might arise.
Senator Clinton frequently speaks of her eight years experience “in the White House”. During that time Bill Clinton lavished praise on the United Daughters of the Confederacy. BlackCommentator.com has seen the following documents and presents copies of them here.
June 21, 1994 Letter from President Bill Clinton to the United Daughters of the Confederacy printed in the United Daughters of the Confederacy Magazine, September 1994, Vol. 57 No. 8, page 9. This was a special centennial anniversary edition of the magazine and has an outer cover and a standard magazine cover.
In the letter to the UDC President Clinton wrote:
The White House
Washington
June 21, 1994
I am delighted to honor the United Daughters of the Confederacy as you celebrate your 100th anniversary.
One of the most rewarding of human experiences is the coming together of people to share common experiences and interests. For 100 years, the United Daughters of the Confederacy has maintained and built upon the wonderful legacy of your founders. The strength of your organization today is a testament of the vision of your founders and to your commitment to your shared goals.
I congratulate you on your achievement, and I extend best wishes for many years of continuing success.
Bill Clinton
(Note: these are relatively large scanned images and may take a moment to load depending on your connection speed – please be patient)
Click on any of the links below to view the images.
June 21_1994 President Clinton UDC Praise Letter
A letter of September, 1994 from Bill Clinton with the same wording as the one above to the United Daughters of the Confederacy was printed on the inside of the front cover of the February 1995 issue of United Daughters of the Confederacy Magazine. This letter praised the Georgia Division of the UDC.
Sept 8 1994 President Clinton UDC Praise Letter
A letter of August 9, 1995 from Bill Clinton to the United Daughters of the Confederacy was printed on the inside of the front cover of the Sept. 1995 issue of United Daughters of the Confederacy Magazine. This letter read as follows:
Greetings to everyone gathered in our nation's capital for the 1995 National Convention of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Congratulations on beginning of the second century of your organization -- your long history is a tribute to your dedication to and respect for the ideals of your founders.This week marks a special time for the members of your organization to share memories, traditions, and goals. I hope that your visit to Washington is an enjoyable one and that you will take advantage of its unique beauty and many historical sites. Best wishes to all for an enjoyable convention. Bill Clinton
Aug 9 1995 President Clinton UDC Praise Letter
Lest anyone think this organization is nothing more than a group of women in fancy dress who gather for tea and cookies the facts show otherwise.
Former Illinois senator Carol Moseley Braun condemned the UDC on the floor of the Senate in 1993. Adam Clymer in the July 23, 1993, New York Times wrote:
The Senate’s only black member, Carol Moseley Braun, made the chamber listen today as freshmen seldom do. Her oratory of impassioned tears and shouts, stopped Jesse Helms in his tracks as he defended the Confederate flag.
Senator Helms, the 20-year North Carolina Republican, had sought -- and seemed to be finding -- a roundabout way to preserve the design patent held by United Daughters of the Confederacy on a symbol that includes the flag.
He proposed language to that effect as an amendment to the national service bill, which would provide educational grants in return for various forms of service. With many senators unaware of what they were voting on, he won a test vote, 52 to 48.
Then Senator Moseley Braun, a freshman from Illinois, took the floor in outrage at the defense of a symbol of slavery. She told the Senate:
"On this issue there can be no consensus. It is an outrage. It is an insult.
"It is absolutely unacceptable to me and to millions of Americans, black or white, that we would put the imprimatur of the United States Senate on a symbol of this kind of idea."
Less than one year after this event, Bill Clinton wrote his first letter of praise to the UDC.
As recently as Nov. 2007, the UDC Magazine printed an article titled, “Confederate Classics,” as part of a regular column, “Confederate Notes,” by Retta D. Tindal which made the following reading recommendations:
“Some books are classics that never go out of style. As we approach the gift-giving season, there are four books that I treasure and use over and over, whether for research or reference or just to refresh my memory of the special heritage I have.”
Tindall recommended the white supremacist racist text, “Southern By the Grace of God,” by Michael Andrew Grissom, a Ku Klux Klan praising book, not just the Klan of Reconstruction but the Klan of the 1920s, which in turn recommends “The Clansman” by Thomas Dixon, which later was made into the notorious movie “Birth of a Nation”.
UDC Magazine Column of Nov 2007
The United Daughters of the Confederacy have consistently defended the Ku Klux Klan. For example a postcard showing a Grand Cyclops of the KKK could at least at one time be found in the UDC Chapter Room at Florence, Alabama.
Grand Cyclops of the KKK Postcard
According to Time Magazine, Bill Clinton sent a wreath to the Confederate Monument in Arlington Cemetery while president each year.
If Senator Hillary Clinton is going to be viewed as ready on "day one" partially because of her eight years at 16-hundred Pennsylvania Avenue it would be reasonable to find out if elected President will she continue the tradition of support and praise of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
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