You can remove the Confederate flag from the flag poles and grounds of political institutions but you can’t take the Confederate attitudes from the hearts and minds of politicians and other conservatives!
Black people are oftentimes too symbolic.
That is why many of us enjoy marches more than we enjoy movements. We enjoy holidays more than we embrace history and we appreciate political promises far more than we enjoy direct positive political actions!
I don’t want my tax dollars to fund anything related to Confederate, flags, philosophies, values or any other negative idea, institution or remembrance of crimes and atrocities inflicted on Black people in America during slavery days or current days.
On the other hand, however, when racists act racist or crave symbols of racism like flags, it doesn’t bother me. I’m not surprised when some whites in American, in Germany or in other parts of the world become fond of symbols that reflect how they truly feel.
Just like the three-pieced suit wearing African America is called a “nigger” like the dashiki wearing Black, the Confederate flag waver could be just as bigoted as the non-flag waver who hates you but pretends to be the Black man’s friend, confidant, supporter and admirer!
So, why are we so quick to rally around and about flags, street names, holidays and marches but slow as hell to come together and fight for equal rights and justice?
Why can’t we rise up and tell the world that we will defend and protect our women, our children and our communities?
Why can’t we get together and unite on our own instead of waiting to get the signal from and the approval of our enemies that hate us the most?
Why do we only love the so-called Black heroes that the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy want us to love?
Every Black man and women doesn’t have to emulate Martin Luther King Junior to be a good person. All of our ancestors, both non-violent and violent, that stood up and spoke out against the misrepresentations, mistreatment, exploitation, the beatings and the killings perpetrated on us by people with devilish intentions deserved to be recognized and honored!
Instead of wasting your time and energy on a Confederate flag protest, you could be honoring and displaying and flying flags that mean something to you and your ancestors, your heritage and your people! (Buy Gantt’s latest book, “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing” on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere. Contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants.net. And, if you want to,”Like” The Gantt Report page on Facebook.)
Lucius is a contributing columnist to NNPA newspapers around the nation, and the author of “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing,” available on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere.