When I was five years old, all of my friends watched”The Dukes of Hazzard.” I wanted to watch it too, but we weren’t allowed towatch that program in my house because of the Confederate flag that was paintedon the car in the show.
At the age of five, I learned that the Confederateflag was a representation of white domination of black people. I learned thatthe KKK, the ARYAN NATION, the SKINHEADS, the AMERICAN NAZI PARTY and 500 otherextremist groups use this flag as their emblem. I learned to see theConfederate flag as the symbol of hate that it was meant to represent, and thepride that Southern white folks say the flag stands for has nothing to do withthe fair treatment of black people.
When Martin Luther King was assassinated, racistwhite folks waved that flag! When black men and women were hung from trees andtorched for the amusement of southern white folks, that flag was waved. TheConfederate flag is just another way for the racists to call black people”ni***r.” The swastika was once asymbol of peace before it was a Nazi symbol. When you see one now, what comesto mind? Is it something you would wear on a T-shirt?
Fans of Louisiana State University have been wavingpurple and gold Confederate flags at sporting events. They’re saying that theirmotives for doing this aren’t racist and that they are merely trying torepresent their Southern heritage.
Maybe, for many, the Confederate flag is a symbol ofSouthern history and a proud heritage. That history and heritage, however,includes the brutal enslavement and degradation of black people in America.
I just can’t see how anyone who knows the history ofthis flag and who understands the racial hatred that it represents can stillwave it proudly. I can’t see how black students at LSU can tolerate whitestudents waving this flag in their faces at their events.
I understand that black people make up 80 percent ofthe athletic community at LSU (On the National Championship billboard outsideof their stadium that shows several white hands reaching for a trophy, not oneblack hand is shown. Hmmm…). I can’t see how all of those black athletes canrepresent on the field and on the court while all of those white fans aresitting in the stands waving symbols of hatred at them. It’s just like thosewhite people with those flags are saying, “RUN N****R, RUN! CHASE THE BALL,N****R! DUNK THE BALL, N****R, DUNK IT! IN HIS FACE N****R, IN HIS FACE!”
If I were an athlete at LSU, I wouldn’t play for acrowd of people calling me “nigger.” They’re not worried about that over therethough. They’re too busy chasin’ balls for “massuh.”
