The southern rebel thing is real. I've met quite a few white southerners who felt strongly about the flag, who weren't consciously racist (War of Northern Agression). On the other hand walking into a black bar with a confederate shirt, would be as good a way as any to get beaten up.
Still at the end of the day its only a fucking symbol. A burning cross is intimdating, a flag is a flag. Out of all the things to get hot and bothered about, this surely has to be one of the least important.
-----Original Message----- From: lbo-talk-admin at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-admin at lbo-talk.org]On Behalf Of BklynMagus Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 8:10 PM To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Subject: [lbo-talk] Re: Dean and rebel flags
Dear List:
Dennis Perrin wrote:
> The issue at hand isn't whether or not the Confederate flag carries racist
symbolism (though for some it does), it is about Dean's comment concerning
the Dems reaching out to those who display that flag.
Although I am from the North, my boyfriend is from a small town in South Carolina just outside of Columbia. He says it would be hard to find someone in the South who didn't know that the rebel flag had racist meanings. He said it was often used as a symbol of intimidation by whites, kind of a permitted white hood/burning cross image.
Dean's comment was a politician's triang------ulation: reach out to the group you want to conect with, show your solidarity, then apologize and placate your base. It was about as spontaneous and unplanned as a Bach fugue.
Brian Dauth Queer Buddhist Resister
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