Virginia Confederate Flag Group’s Massive Erection Doesn’t Erase Its Racism

Tommy Christopher on June 03, 2014

A group of Confederate flag enthusiasts called The Virginia Flaggers has just completed their second massive erection of a Confederate flag, along Interstate 95 in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Just how massive?

The 20×30 foot flag now flies atop an 82-foot pole, where, according to the group, it will honor the Confederate soldiers who were “motivated” by the “US Constitution of 1788,” and it has nothing to do with slavery because math.

The ceremony, which took place on Saturday morning, was captured on video by local photographer Judy Smith (trigger warning: awful bagpipe music ahead):

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEptXHKpxk8[/youtube]

Sorry, I should have also warned you about the singing. If only they were just whistling Dixie, am I right?

The group claims that they’ve got “landowners all across Virginia and in neighboring states, eager to offer their property for lease” to erect more giant Confederate flags for residents of the country that beat them to metaphorically spit at. They also bragged about all the media attention they got, including a “Belle’s Eye View” column from Christine Barr congratulating the Virginia Flaggers, and explaining how not-racist they are:

Despite the personal attacks on its members, the characterization of the group as racists in the face of the stunning lack of any racist actions or rhetoric from the group, and the constant drumbeat of those who keep forecasting the imminent dissolution of the organization, they continue soldiering on, doing what needs to be done without regard to those who delight in the negative and seemingly have an almost obsessive need to try to foil the honest efforts of a people seeking to have their ancestors’ sacrifice remembered.

Here’s a tip: if you think a lack of racist actions is “stunning,” then maybe racism isn’t the topic for you.

That’s especially true if you can’t see the 82-foot high racist action of erecting the flag of an army that fought to hundreds of thousands of deaths to defend slavery. The Confederate flag will never not be racist, no matter how many times LL Cool J offers to swap you his gold chains for it. You can chant “Heritage Not Hate” all you want, but it will never make any more sense than flying a giant Reese’s banner while chanting “Chocolate, Not Peanut Butter!”

It would be easy to dismiss these would-be whitewashers of history as fringe idiots, but the “heritage” they seek to honor still echoes today, and needs no encouragement to regain its foothold. The notion that the Civil War had nothing to do with slavery can be heard in modern assertions that assaults on voting rights, or discriminatory police practices, or a host of other policy-driven disparities have nothing to do with race.

History may well be written by the victors, but given half a chance, the losers will do their best to rewrite it.

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EnuffBull

The only Confederate flag the United States of America recognizes is the white surrender flag.

(History records a linen dish towel was used for surrender at Appomattox. Probably because there were no clean underwear to use, since the secessionists had previously sh#t themselves.)
EnuffBull

[You can chant “Heritage Not Hate” all you want, but it will never make any more sense than flying a giant Reese’s banner while chanting “Chocolate, Not Peanut Butter!”]

Great comparison. I’m stealing…
no, I’m plagarizing…
no, I’m USING that line!
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D. Alexander

Love the headline. This is so sad.
http://www.osborneink.com/ OsborneInk

“Heritage not hate” is a very selective heritage. These people surely aren’t celebrating all the Union volunteer regiments from Southern states, for instance, and they don’t think of freedmen regiments as “Southerners” — or even “human.”
formerlywhatithink

Saying the confederate flag is not a symbol of racism is like saying the nazi swastika is not a symbol of antisemitism. You can say it all you want, you’ll still be wrong.
Steven Skelton

True story: There was an Arkansas wedding that took place up here in Snohomish County, Washington. Horseshoes, chewing tobacco, crawfish and the whole nine yards.

After the ceremony, the groom took his shirt off for the rest of the day. Tattooed on his left bicep was a giant Confederate flag. Most of his non-family guests were black, and they all played horsehoes until the whisky ran out.

To the arrogant, white liberals…the good people if you will…his tatoo means he’s a racist and any pride from being from the south means he’s a racist and his pickup truck means he’s a racist……

Wallow in your feeling of superiortiy my friend. I hope it serves you well.

Just remember that these young, black, iron workers up here in working class Snohomish county have a better understanding of what that flag means than you do.
- Sabyen91
  
  Great anecdote! It isn’t representative but at least you feel good about yourself.
  - trgahan
    
    His unverifiable anecdote, aside from being a classic conquers privilege guilt swab and in no way proving his “arrogant, white liberals” conclusion, also total ignores the actual history of what has happened to African American males who have taken vocal exception to a white male flaunting their “heritage.”
    
    If true, the African American’s in attendance were likely raised to keep their mouths shut as they probably had relatives who paid the price for vocalizing such opinions (aka being an “uppty ni…”).
    - Frau From Fly-Over USA
      
      oh yes. i really had a eye roll moment on that last line as well read= those people know their place. i love when the racists troll Daily Banter. It’s almost too easy to mock them.
- That River Gal
  
  You make a lot of claims and tell a lot of stories, none of which ring true or offer evidence.
  
  I do believe you about living in SnoCo, though. Makes a lot of sense, actually.
  - Steven Skelton
    
    Of course anectdotes aren’t evidence, but I thought this was the comment section. I didn’t realize we putting together a study to publish.
    - baileylamb
      
      Well you could go over to the Root and post that crap, or long hair care forum… But I don’t actually think you really care what actuall real live black women and men think.
  - Steven Skelton
    
    What do you have against Snohomish County? I love it here. I’ve never been happier in my life. The people are great and it’s absolutely beautiful here.
    
    I live at the foot of Mt. Pilchuck. What could you possibly have against that?
- http://vermillionbrain.blogspot.com/ Vermillion
  
  His tattoo doesn’t mean he is a racist. It means he’s an idiot who wants to pick and choose what parts of his “heritage” he wants people to acknowledge. Just like all Lost Causers. This does not preclude him from being racist, mind you.
  
  There are black people who don’t accept climate change or vaccines either. Just because you got one guy who is willing to ignore facts, doesn’t mean the facts suddenly stop being so.
  
  The flag is the symbol of secessionists and traitors, people willing to take arms against the country they so claim to love in order to propagate a system of human chattel. The few poor white non-slave-owning folks and blacks who fought on their side were suckered into fighting for a bunch of rich white assholes who had such little regard for human life they thought slavery was worth letting other people fight for it. IF they gave one good thought about how they were not going to benefit from a Confederate society any more than they did, they wouldn’t have fought.
  
  Either the people are celebrating their ancestors being gullible fools, or are celebrating their ancestors not giving one good shit about living, thinking beings being treated as property or worse. Which one is it?
  
  And really, you went with “but this guy was black, and his friends were black too” defense? Really?
  - Steven Skelton
    
    Your third paragraph could be about the American revolution.
    
    And why they do it isn’t an either/or proposition. It’s a lot more complicated than that.
    - http://vermillionbrain.blogspot.com/ Vermillion
      
      I thought the common refrain about the American Revolution was over unfair taxes. Are you honestly comparing paying extra for trade goods to the physical enslavement of an entire race? Wow, really nice. And yeah, I do think that the American Revolution was fught between two group of richj white dudes who were sick of each otehr and got poor people to fight for them. Much like most wars. So…your point is…?
      
      No it isn’t complicated. The swatstika is an excelllent comaprison here: those who don it and insist that it is simply a symbol of their “heritage” are ignoring what exactly that heritage was built upon. They can’t pick and choose what parts the symbol represents.
- kiptw
  
  Also, slavery was totally voluntary! This black friend of mine (I have three!!) told me all about it, and he was so happy to find someone who understood at last, it was like he had to fight to keep from laughing.
- baileylamb
  
  We keep our mouths shut in those areas because of fear for our lives. Never forget the Tulsa Riots, that why black folk (like myself) in Oklahoma an other rural areas do the head nod when we see each other.
  
  Actually, I wasn’t good about keeping my mouth shut, that why I will never go back, until people like you change (hahahahahahahhah) or die off.
  
  Most of the older women are praying for your lil,confederate waving souls, so there is that.
  Not even going into the whole thing of masculinity, and racism (or why black guys of a certain two generations are more likely to try to look the other way).
  
  Sigh, but tell the truth, you don’t even care or want to know what many black folk from those areas actually think. We aren’t your neighbors in any real sense. If we were you would actually have some empathy. Fake Christians fil the south.
Barbara Striden

“they continue soldiering on, doing what needs to be done without regard to those who delight in the negative and seemingly have an almost obsessive need to try to foil the honest efforts of a people seeking to have their ancestors’ sacrifice remembered.”

“Doing what needs to be done”? What exactly are these idiots trying to get “done” by celebrating the actions of their racist, treasonous ancestors?
Jason E

So this flag is about 50 miles from our nations capital. Do these people want a do over?
- Sabyen91
  
  Hmm, maybe those Bundyloons should go have a rally at Fort Sumter National Park just to be clear.
  - Jason E
    
    They should be grateful to Obama for making it OK to bring their firearms to our national parks. Something tells me they aren’t?
    - Sabyen91
      
      Sorry, I was referring to the first shots of the Civil War.
      - Jason E
        
        I got the reference. Just tossing in a little extra something, something.
      - bobbyhansonf898
        
        sterben.
Sabyen91

They should dye that flag white for accuracy.