June 21, 2015

Make all symbols of hate disappear!

tags:	#Charleston, #Confederate Flag, #hate crimes, #racism
by:	Deniz Zehra Tavli

The Confederate Flag still flies out of homes and cars, even on public squares and next to governmental monuments in the South of the United States. One can ask why, since the red flag with its cross out of blue "bars and stars" is a clear historical symbol for century-long racially motivated violence and hate. Hate against anyone who is not white, christian and heterosexual. Hate against the majority of this world basically, but especially against black people in the United States.

This flag represents the Confederate States of America during the US-American Civil War when the South was vehemently fighting to keep slavery as a means to maintain and enhance economic prosperity for white plantation owners. The Civil War was ended in 1865, slavery of black people was abandoned, the era of the Confederate Staes of America over.

On Wednesday nine people of a black community in Charleston were shot by a white male teenager in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church - the first independent black church in America for nearly two hundred years. The message of these killings is as clear as the message of the Confederate Flag: That black people are worth less than white people and thus have no right to live.

All people still flying, waving, posting, printing and distributing the Confederate Flag or claiming that it's simply a symbol of "Southern pride and heritage" may reconsider what this heritage actually means. This is the 21st century, your President is black, wake up and get rid off those symbols of hate!

Sign the petition adressed to the South Carolina State House, The South Carolina State Senate, and Governor Nikki Haley to remove the Confederate Flag from all governmental places.