Calif. Assembly OKs ban on Confederate flag items in state agencies

[Newsjock]

Source: Sacramento Bee

California is a long way from the Confederacy, but the Assembly took an extra step on Monday to ensure the Civil War's losers can't be honored by government entities.

Under a bill that easily passed the Assembly on a 72-1 vote Monday, state government agencies would be prohibited from displaying or selling Confederate flag imagery. There would be an exception for books that offer "an educational or historical purpose."

... Assemblyman Isadore Hall, D-Los Angeles, unfurled his Assembly Bill 2444 after he said he came across Confederate currency in the State Capitol's basement gift shop. He said the Confederate flag remains a potent symbol of fear and discrimination.

... While agreeing that the flag represents a violent chapter in American history, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, countered that Hall's bill infringes on freedom of speech.

Read more: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2014/05/south-rising-again-not-from-californias-public-buildings.html

[Hoyt]

1. White wing would grab their gunz in protest if proposed in South.

Sickos.

[randys1]

3. Rightwingers are all about racism and little else

As I have said, every issue they have can be traced to their loss of the right to own slaves...

Well not every single one but just about..

[arcane1]

2. Suddenly the repub is worried about "infringes on freedom of speech" of state government agencies

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Ok at least it was not my local

which would not have surprised me at all. He is Donnelly's brother from another mother.

[NightWatcher]

5. Why would confederate schwag be in California anyway?

I don't see too many reasons why the old Georgia flag would be flown on the west coast.

[Xithras]

6. Lots of it in the San Joaquin Valley

A nearly forgotten historical fact: The first major wave of American settlers to break the Valley into farms were southern refugees from the Civil War who chose to move west rather than rebuild their shattered communities.

The Great Depression also sent a lot of "Okies" to California. Many Oklahoman's culturally identify with the south, and they brought a lot of southern sympathies with them (lots of that in my own family).

And it's not as if California didn't already have strong pro-southern sentiments. In 1859 both houses of the California legislature signed a bill to split the state into two, and the governor signed it. If it had been approved by Congress, the modern day state of California would stop at the Tehachapis, and the territory south of it would have become the state of Colorado (the modern state of Colorado would presumably have a different name). Congress turned the request down because the potentially new state of "Colorado" was pro-southern and pro-slavery, and there weren't enough votes to add a new slave state to the union.

This is why Tracy California was home to a KKK Grand Dragon in the 1980's, and why Merced County had to operate under the same federal voting scrutiny as much of the South did, up until just a few years ago. There's a long history of "southern pride" and racism in this part of the state. It's not nearly as visible today as it was 20 years ago, but it's not entirely gone either.

[NightWatcher]

8. I had no idea, thanks

I'm from Georgia and had no idea that our craziness wasn't contained within the South.

[Xithras]

10. Oh no. In fact, the San Joaquin Valley has long had the nickname "New Appalachia"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Appalachia

The term today mostly refers to the abject poverty that some parts of the Valley live in, which can be directly compared to Appalachia at its worst, but the name came about because the region has also had a strong "Southern" streak for nearly as long as the state has existed. Since it was "southern" and dirt poor, the New Appalachia moniker worked.

The southern influences have faded over the past couple of decades, especially as Hispanics have become population majorities in many Valley counties and the older generations have died out or moved away, but there are still quite a few pockets and vestiges, and a lot of southern cultural influences remain. It's the only part of California where you can find restaurants that serve decent southern food

[Nevernose]

11. Assholes come from all over

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map#s=CA

Their list includes lots of people, including skinheads, the KKK, general racists, and at least one neo-Confederate group.

[SwankyXomb]

7. Well it is Donnelly complaining

Tell him it's actually replica pre-1848 Mexican-Californian money and watch him change his tune.

[Niceguy1]

9. was there even a problem in CA?

Or do they not have enough to do?