In The Streets with Beverley Smith: Why Fight for the Rebel Flag? (Episode 95) - a podcast by the LMC Radio Network

Why Fight for the Rebel Flag?


The Confederate Flag - beloved by so many - is the battle flag of the losers. It is a symbol of the South which was willing to go to war to maintain its brutal economy of chattal slavery. Why it was allowed to continue flying after the Civil War is a mystery. But for many, they will fight tooth and nail to uphold and preserve this symbol of the system that dominated, enslaved, and demeaned an entire group of people.


In St Louis, the new mayor wants a Confederate monument removed. In recent weeks, tensions have been high as pro-Confederate groups wishing to keep the monument clash with civil rights activists supporting its removal. In many of these clashes, the police openly favor the pro-Confederate groups.


In New Orleans, the mayor has been adamant about his intention to take down the monuments and in doing so, formally reject the history of brutality, lynching, and bloodshed associated with the Confederate flag.


Contrast Louisiana with Alabama, where the governor recently signed an order which outlaws the removal or tampering with "architecturally significant" that have been public property for more than 40 years old.


In America, where anti-Blackness is all the rage, the subject of the Confederate flag continues to be a hot button topic. Rarely does one have a neutral opinion about the institution of chattal slavery, the Civil War, the Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the current issues swirling around the rebel flag and Confederate monuments.


This and more. Tues, June 6, 2017; 6pm Pacific Time

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