Confederate battle flag comes down in SC at 10 am today

Good.... what time is it over there? Is it down yet?

Empty political gestures to garner an emotional response in a rather nasty election season.

That said, I don't think it should have been up there to begin with. Only official state or national flags should be flying over government buildings.

a reply to: michaelbrux

You clearly underestimate my mental capacity.

I'll leave it at that because anything more would get me in trouble.

Now a black commentator is critical of the way it was taken down. haha. SOS.

Congratulations America! Racism is dead!

/sarcasm

a reply to: eriktheawful

I agree but it's a flag on a state capitol that really shouldn't have been there anyways.

It's not a "start" it's more a "someone made a big deal of it"

The average person i talk with about it says the same, stupid. Why make such a big deal over no big deal. Just because fox and cnn polled a selective audience, it doesn't reflect the mindset of the average American.

Will this be the end of it, or only the beginning?

Are we going to attack all symbols now? This was successful.

Um, yay.

What symbols that people find offensive are next?

Just wanted to point out something else. Government moved fast on this. The war on drugs is decades old.
The war on terror is decades old.

The war on poverty is decades old.

The war on symbols?

Didn't last a month.

a reply to: beezzer

Well it's been used for fifty plus years so it's hinky as hell that we stopped talking about Dylan Roof and actual hate or active violence and started talking about a passive symbol, the meaning of which we can't even collectively agree.

But agreed...this is just the beginning. Next up memorials and grave sites. Then on to another region of the country.

a reply to: Vector99

Mental capacity probably has nothing to do with it as it should be simple enough to understand. Some things arent for everyone to understand.

But some posters obviously have decided they want to diminish this event for personal reasons...perhaps they think another opportunity will present itself enabling them to acheive their strategic objective, which clearly the destruction of the United States.

originally posted by: seagull
Yep.

All the racial stuff is now a thing of the past. With the removal of the flag from the SC capital building, all our issues are solved.

Woo-Hoo... I am sooooo happy, now.

God, this is so useless.

What exactly is accomplished by this? Are those innocent dead suddenly going to return to life? Are the bigots suddenly going to see the light of kindness to those who are different?

Somehow I don't think so.

I dont't think so. I don't understand this mentality on ATS that we are all meant to be outraged that a flag is being discussed.

I would rather see peaceful people pleased that a flag put up specifically in response to the civil rights movement coming down way too long later.

I dont understand the fuss over taking it down NOW, the fuss should be over it wasn't down THEN in the 60s.

originally posted by: kosmicjack
Congratulations America! Racism is dead!

/sarcasm

I don't get this.....who is saying racism is dead by taking down the flag? Where is this stance coming from?

The flag is pathetic I'm glad its gone for a government building after being put there to stick to black people. I'm sorry it took 9 people being slaughtered for their skin color for people to remove it.

a reply to: kosmicjack

Local coverage was moving.

a reply to: Vector99

It is tied to slavery.

a reply to: zazzafrazz

I'm simply being tongue in cheek. It's all just superficial tripe. It fixes nothing. It certainly doesn't offset the deaths of nine people or cure our social ills or centuries of transgressions. It's a placating. It's politicizing.

a reply to: Shamrock6

The real political point of this whole scenario is that Nikki Haley fought to keep the flag up just last year, November-ish.


When it takes a mass murder to enlighten a politician to what symbolises hatred, we're in trouble.

originally posted by: Vector99
a reply to: eriktheawful

I agree but it's a flag on a state capitol that really shouldn't have been there anyways.

It's not a "start" it's more a "someone made a big deal of it"

The average person i talk with about it says the same, stupid. Why make such a big deal over no big deal. Just because fox and cnn polled a selective audience, it doesn't reflect the mindset of the average American.

And again: people show their ignorance and instead embrace something simply because (as Martha Stewart says) "It's a good thing.", instead of thinking critically, and knowing everything there is to know about.

Like the fact the flag was NOT flying OVER the state capital building.

Over and over and yet even when educated differently, I still see this statement over and over here on ATS. Truly Denying Ignorance is gone here. Only Embracing Emotions counts.

Where the flag WAS flying:



The ironic thing (dramatic irony to be sure), was how many people on here screamed "it should not be flying on top of the state capital building! That is wrong!"

Only to see that when they were corrected on where it was flying, their statements changed to: "Well it should not be flying on government property!" (except for some on here that just can't seem to understand that it's no longer flying on top of the building for some strange reason).

Then to see that when it's been show that there are many, many different monuments erected on state property, what are we now seeing?

Calls to remove not just a flag, but those monuments, grave sites, etc, etc.

Again: it's a insidious tool. But it works well. You can manipulate people very easily with it. You can rewrite history with it. You can erase history with it.

And: you can control people with it, so that in the end you can ensure that those people will always do as you say.

It's just a flag right? No big deal...right? It's a symbol that we MUST get rid of.....right? It's okay, it can be in a museum......for now. We're not interfering with anyone's rights...or insisting that everyone must believe the way we do! Honest! We're helping you!

Then down the road: Oh look! Something else happened........we'll have to get rid of something else. It will help! It will be a "good thing". You agreed to it before! Nothing bad happened, did it? You really should trust us, because we have shown in the past that we certainly do know what is good for you! That's it. That's the good little lamb. You won't miss this either. You'll see.........

And that, is how the lambs are led to their cages........

Bravado?

No. Just look back in history. Even in just the past 100 years, and show me how this has not been done before.

But you'd better look quickly......before it's rewritten, or removed.

a reply to: kosmicjack

It's none of those things... people have been fighting to get that flag down for 53 years. For 53 years South Carolina protested equality with that flag. Now it's gone. It's not a cheap victory at all.

Worthy of mention... the entire crowd began shouting USA as it came down.

a reply to: Kali74

State rights on slavery I will agree, but the north also had slaves at that time, just not in the same degree. It really was more about state rights than slavery. But Lincoln assured states will never have true rights.

Even Lincoln himself was for freeing slaves, but NOT giving them rights.

a reply to: eriktheawful

What's changed?

What has changed?

I have the news on now and I haven't seen this much drama since the moon landing!

Maybe because I'm in a different time zone and it hasn't caught up with me yet, but from where I sit racism is still a real problem.

Slavery still existed.

The Civil Rights Movement still had it's fight.


What's been solved?
What's been corrected?
What wrongs have been righted?
When is this magical balm supposed to descend upon me like glitter from heaven?

a reply to: Kali74

Sorry to break it to you, but what this flag fiasco has amounted to is a symbolic gesture - at best. In the meanwhile sales of that flag have skyrocketed. So, while it's been removed from view from the S.C. Capitol grounds it will be making a huge resurgence all over this country.

Removed in one place only to be viewed more than ever, everywhere else.
I feel so much better now, don't you?

So if the goal was removing it from one place should fix everything, I'm afraid this was a huge failure.

Will they try to repeal the first amendment now to remove them nationwide?

They told us it is a symbol of oppression and hatred right?

What a complete joke this country has become.

a reply to: eriktheawful

was it flying over state grounds? did the capitol also reside on those grounds? Flying a flag "over" something doesn't always mean the literal term that is was "OVER" the capitol. It was over state capitol grounds.

You tell me to deny ignorance?

I had no problem with it in the first place, honestly didn't even know it was there. I can side with the fanatics screaming to take it down though, because well in this circumstance they are right. We have one USA flag, and it should be the only flag flown on any state grounds. Show me another state entity with another flag and I'll be the first to make a stink out of it just to shut the news stations up. US Governmental territory, US flag only.

Why is that a big deal?