Racist flag starter pack

[Eric]

Still not in a place where I feel comfortable putting up my American flag.

 

[SuperMatt]

Still not in a place where I feel comfortable putting up my American flag.

Some of us wear that flag to work every day… despite the ugliness in our nation’s past, I like to think of the ideals of all of us being equal that we should aspire to. I’m glad Y’all-Qaeda has chosen the Trump flag or blue lives or confederate flags. It’s truly what they represent… not freedom for all like the American flag is supposed to….

 

[User.45]

Still not in a place where I feel comfortable putting up my American flag.

Nah, my friend be proud of the flag on the bottom, even if that comes with some baggage. This happened where I grew up too. Right wingers started taking over symbols of national identity and abuse the shit out of them and others became more and more embarrassed using them. Don't let the mofo's steal that, because it's gonna be very hard to reclaim it.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Still not in a place where I feel comfortable putting up my American flag.

Brilliant; however, you refer to American racists; For others, the swastika would be at the top of that list ("the definition of racism").

The blue lives is one I haven't seen before - a very nice political point, and one very well made.

Re the US flag, I'm torn.

I understand fully why it appears on your list - and concur completely - but I also see what @P_X is saying, which is an excellent - and fair - point.

Once governments (or parties, or movements) hijack such powerful symbols of identity (as the odious UK government is currently doing with the union flag) the symbols lose the symbolic power they had as a neutral but unifying symbol - and become an expression of insular (and reactionary) values, something claimed by, and thus, as a consequence, under the ownership of, one particular political perspective.

 

[Eric]

Nah, my friend be proud of the flag on the bottom, even if that comes with some baggage. This happened where I grew up too. Right wingers started taking over symbols of national identity and abuse the shit out of them and others became more and more embarrassed using them. Don't let the mofo's steal that, because it's gonna be very hard to reclaim it.

It needs to rebuild some trust because in my lifetime it has stood for far too much violence and hatred. For anyone not white, either here or in brown countries it represents oppression, not freedom. None of these people or places look at an American flag coming their way and think "America is here to help". We're going to bomb them, steal their oil, destabilize them, arrest them for walking down the street in a hoodie and kill anyone who resists, runs or even complies in some cases. I'm sorry but this flag represents the worst of humanity IMO.

 

[Thomas Veil]

Y’all-Qaeda

I like that.

I have a variation of my own: al-Q’Duh.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Still not in a place where I feel comfortable putting up my American flag.

I'm also kind of that way with the American flag. Whenever I see one on display on a house or a vehicle I don't think proud patriot. I think there's somebody who probably has an extremely limited view of who qualities as American and a long list of complaints about the current state of the US.

 

[Thomas Veil]

Yes. Sadly it feels…tainted. Our American flag, the one that belongs to all of us, feels like it’s been appropriated and turned into a prideful symbol of ignorance and hatred. It makes me sad for our country.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Still not in a place where I feel comfortable putting up my American flag.

A white hood - perhaps flag-shaped? - might also find a home somewhere on that list.

 

[User.45]

It needs to rebuild some trust because in my lifetime it has stood for far too much violence and hatred. For anyone not white, either here or in brown countries it represents oppression, not freedom. None of these people or places look at an American flag coming their way and think "America is here to help". We're going to bomb them, steal their oil, destabilize them, arrest them for walking down the street in a hoodie and kill anyone who resists, runs or even complies in some cases. I'm sorry but this flag represents the worst of humanity IMO.

Absolutely. America's not a child anymore, she's a teen now with some identity issues. One is, the world hasn't necessarily been thinking about the USA as the "good guys," there has just been way too much self-absorbance to notice it. You can imagine what people feel whose homes were bombed under this flag. Or think about Hiroshima & Nagasaki. If the USA didn't win the war and with it the narrative, it would have been considered a war crime, which it was. That said it's up to us to make the value of that flag a net positive for humanity....and I think we do have the power to make it/keep it such. And one of the first steps is to push back against people trying to take it over and control its meaning. It's fucking hard and demoralizing to try to reclaim national symbols from fascists once we've given up on those.