Same-old, same-old with a new flag. — Musings From the Road

This is short and not sweet.

Last summer I posted a photo from Sun City of a house that was flying the Confederate Stars and Bars flag. I noted that the display was Un-American because that flag was representative of an anti-black, white supremacist attitude and that all the bullshit that it's users give about "states rights" was just that, bullshit. It came back into general use after the Civil Rights Act was passed in the 60's when the Jim Crow southern states were forced to integrate their schools and public facilities. Anyone who uses the "states rights" term is lying to themselves and everyone they say it to. You can go to the archive and look for a posting at the end of June or early in July for the complete statement.

Well, this year the Confederate flag was gone. I had thought maybe the owner had a change of mind, but after our trip to LA for the WBC a new second flag showed up.

Same house, new flag, same reason, racism

The Blue Lives Matter flag, a black and white representation of our country's flag with a blue stripe running longitudinally through it, started showing up at white rallys after the Black Lives Matter movement started in response to police shootings of black folks for little to no reason except police over-use of weapons. At the time the Blue flag folks said it was in support of police forces but the undercurrent was always one of anti-black/brown sentiment. Well, folks who say it's police support had better reconsider. If there are any who honestly believe it's pro-police, they are being used by racists with another agenda. The "law and order" crowd has always been a code-worded group of white supremacists who believe that all black folks, and subsequently, Latino, Muslim, basically any non-white people, are all criminals who simply haven't been caught yet or are sponges on government hand-outs.

While some folks may want to say that this is not proof that the Blue Lives flag is being used as a racial statement all the time I'll argue that it is definitely being used in that context by this homeowner. Despite the fact that on one evening there was a police crusier parked in the driveway during and past the dinner hour I do not believe it's up there solely in support of police. Not in the case of this house. And not in most cases where it's used in public gatherings and in being flown from vehicles. It's being used as a white supremacist symbol as a substitute for those who don't want to be "openly" recognized as racist by the confederate flag. So anyone that flies this thing are showing support for segregationist beliefs, at the least. Even non-racists thinking that they are showing support for police are going to be supporting racism by display of this emblem.

The confederate flag is an insurrectionist symbol. It is anti-American in it's values and use. The Blue Lives flag is un-american because it puts police forces as being more important than civil rights even without the racist underpinning that it has been used as a symbol for.

I'm waiting for our "president" to wrap himself in this one some day. It runs along with his "non-racist" remarks where he uses commonly recognized race-baiting code words to engage his base "base". That's why the KKK openly supported his candidacy and why we have neo-nazis openly displaying nazi symbols during rallies in support of him.

This is not some politically correct issue. It's basic to our country's being. Continuing to espouse and encourage this racism is not simply someone's free speech right or some inconsequential action. It strikes at the most central part of our Constitutional rights to equality by denying it to a complete group of citizens based on a dispicable history of white dominance.