President Barack Obama was in Oklahoma to give to give a speech on economic issues and to visit a federal prison, which he would be the first president to do so. He was greeted by a small group of protesters that were carrying Confederate flags. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian (The Point) hosts of The Young Turks discuss.
Do you think the protesters were trying to intimidate the president or just celebrate their heritage? Let us know in the comments below.
Read more here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/this-image-from-outside-obamas-hotel-shows-the-confederate-flag-debate-isnt-over_55a7a86be4b0c5f0322c692c?
“The Confederate flag may have recently been removed from South Carolina and Alabama’s Capitol grounds and pulled from the shelves of National Park Service gift shops, but it’s not gone for good.
The image above shows a group of protesters flying Confederate flags outside the Oklahoma City hotel where President Barack Obama stayed Wednesday night, ahead of his visit to a federal prison in El Reno, Oklahoma.
More protesters greeted Obama near an Oklahoma high school where he spoke Wednesday afternoon. One of the protestors told KFOR the demonstration was not about racism, “it is about history.”
Comments
I watched your episode on the Confederate flag in Oklahoma and I felt compelled to correct you on a few points.
The war between the states (civil war is not the correct term here) was NOT about slavery. The articles of secession that you are throwing around were only made by 5 states out of the 13 and Virginia’s did not say slavery was the cause. Only three speak of slavery as the reason for secession so stating that the reason for the war between the states is slavery is WRONG. Secession was purposed before the 1860s due to taxes imposed on the South by the North. In the 1860s taxes, Lincoln’s election, abolitionists, etc. all lead to the secession of the 13 states from the Union. To say it was “slavery” is ignorant and just not true.
Second the battle flag of Northern Virginia was not “brought back” just because of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. Sorry to burst your bubble but that also is NOT true. Look throughout the South at the monuments and Confederate memorials that have that flag on them. Many monuments have been around for 100+ years. To say that Wallace’s campaign of the 60’s and Civil Rights was the reason the flag was brought back is YET ANOTHER short sighted comment. The battle flag of Northern Virginia was adopted by MANY after the war because so many Confederates fought under that flag on the battlefield.
Why am I having to tell you guys this? You should honestly already know it. You should also know that Confederate soldiers were made United State military veterans by decree of the federal government. The federal government also forced states to return captured Confederate flags to their designated states and allowed Confederate dead to be buried in federal cemeteries (Arlington). They did such things so Confederate history (including the flag) would not be forgotten and not be condemned. It was a sign of reconciliation. Then people like you make the ignorant comments about the flag and it truly shows how lacking our education system truly is.
I watch your show from time-to-time and on a lot of issues I take what you guys say for fact because I usually trust your commentary. The reason being is that I don’t always know everything about the subject you are speaking about so I say “Hey, they must have researched it so they must know what is going on.” Then something like this comes up on a subject that I DO know a lot about and I realize that you don’t really know what you are talking about in this particular case so that means in other cases you probably don’t know either.
I will no longer be watching your broadcast because I can’t trust it anymore.
These “protesters” are using this flag for it’s original and intended purpose … to let THIS BLACKMAN know that he is not welcome in a white supremacist country! And that “they” want their country back. The one they lost 150 years ago in The Northern Aggression aka The Confederate States.
You are an idiot. If people keep telling people it is about race then you are going to make a racist issue out of something that was never an issue of race. People are now being physically attacked because they have the Confederate flag because bigots keep telling people the flag is racist. So, in turn other idiots see the flag and think its racist because they are being told that and further perpetuating a lie.
A black Confederate activist was murdered a few days ago because of this VERY thing. He was a strong supporter of the Confederate flag and was returning home from a rally. On his way home he was chased by a car full of black men. They taunted him and ended up causing him to crash his vehicle. He was pinned underneath and ended up passing away due to his injuries.
THIS is what you are causing by perpetuating the LIE that the Confederate flag is RACIST. People, by the thousands, are telling you that it is NOT about being racist yet you INSIST that it is. If you make it about race then sooner or later it will be about race. Every single person in media that claims that is responsible for whatever happens.
Your WILLFUL ignorance of the factual history of this Confederate so-called battle flag .which was introduced into the public in the 1940′ s and brought to national prominence in 1961 in defense of segregation in the South ….tells me and anyone with a casual knowledge of High school US history that you …yes YOU. …are the idiot!
FYI. ..they got this thing called Google,Yahoo and Bing all search engines that provide FACTUAL information regarding this subject….try it! You might learn you something! LOL
I just used google and I seem to see that the Confederate battle flag of Northern Virginia was created in 1861. The flag that was taken down in South Carolina was the Confederate Battle Flag of Northern Virginia. Most of the “confederate flags” you see today are a cross between the Battle Flag of Northern Virginia and the Confederate Naval Jack. The only difference from the Naval Jack of the Confederacy and the most common “confederate flags” you see today is the color scheme. The reason the Battle Flag of Northern Virginia is slightly elongated today is because the original flag was an odd shape and most flags are a standard size of 3’x5′.
So please, enlighten me to how this flag was introduced in the 1940’s when its original conception and adoption was in the early 1860s. There are chuches/cathedrals from the late 1890’s with stain glass windows depicting the Battle flag. I guess segregationists of the 1960’s had a time machine.
Sooo …you support the people who fought AGAINST the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA to defend their so-called right to enslave human beings with all the brutality it tokk to do so and then the 100+ years of murder,lynching and terrorism of US citizens. …hummmm !
Your ignorance is not willful. .. I get it.