Tearing down every Dixie rag down won't end racism.....

[marble falls]

and we shouldn't allow the right congratulate themselves into thinking they'll shut the conversation down by getting on the bandwagon 150 years late.

This just a beginning.

[djean111]

1. You are right. Racism cannot be legislated away. It can be punished if used against someone,

that's about it. Anyone who says a politician can end racism is delusional.

[bettyellen]

5. Is this he new meme from Sanders fans? Is it supposed to explain his shit outreach or something?

[djean111]

7. No, just my own thinking. How do you legislate how someone thinks and feels?

I don't know how to fix that rot. It is possible to make laws against discrimination, laws ensuring equal opportunity, things like that.
I don't think Bernie has a "shit outreach", but I do not feel a need to explain anything. And Hillary showed her true self during the 2008 campaign.
The meme from Hillary fans was to associate Bernie with a picture of two grinning white cops holding up a black man like a hunting trophy.
Now there is a shit meme.

[AndreaCG]

9. That's pretty rude

I'm likely to vote for Hillary but don't see what demeaning Sanders does to help her. There's too much mudslinging on this site every day. Save the mud to throw at the Rs who deserve it.

[bettyellen]

10. Just noting its the third time I saw this in a day- seems like a response to

NY Times article about problems in the Sanders campaign. Problems that have been rudely minimized here for weeks. Now that major media has chimed in, it seems the new meme is - our politicians can't fight racism anyway.
It's kind of weird because that's not exactly the point being made when people notice his demographics.

[yallerdawg]

2. Ending government sanction and legitimacy is a great start to ending that tolerance.

When I see a Confederate flag, I see racist. Just like the swastika.

So should every American. It is what it is, and nothing else.

End of story.

[Starry Messenger]

4. +1

[frazzled]

8. Absolutely

This.Is.Big.

Symbols of racism can no longer be displayed publicly or be sanctioned by the State (and I mean both states and "The State"!). No more coded symbols of hatred. It will all have to go underground ... where the breathing room is far more scarce. It's an important step that has taken a century and a half to achieve.

It's more than a symbol. Yesterday, I posted that two Alabama (that's right, Alabama) police officers were removed from the force because they were found (thanks to research by SPLC) to be active members of a white supremacist group. It's crumbling folks.

[bettyellen]

11. But the government can't do anything about racism!!

Or so I've been hearing all of a sudden.

[HassleCat]

3. True, but...

They can't wave that thing around and claim they're celebrating their southern heritage. We all know what it means now, and even the SC legislature faced up to it.

[tymorial]

6. Not to mention ignoring the gigantic elephant north of the Mason Dixon Line.

I see a multitude of suggestions concerning renaming all public facilities that are currently named after southern generals because they supported racism and slavery. Yet where are the suggestions by these same people that we rename every town or city named Washington or any other founder? When will we get around to renaming towns named Columbus or any early explorer that exploited and enslaved the natives?
-
I would point out that I do not actually support this notion. We can remove all trace of things that make us uncomfortable but I would rather see our efforts go towards communication and building bridges in our communities. The flag is a symbol of hate and racism. It is time that it is removed from flag poles everywhere and relocated to museums and history books. Some of these other notions though...

[dembotoz]

12. It's only a symbol

[bettyellen]

13. A symbol that is pervasive and promotes an atmosphere of fear and hatred.

[backscatter712]

14. No, but it matters.

The Dixie Swastika is a symbol, as is the act of taking it down, so taking those flags down across the country does send a message that bigotry is becoming unacceptable in decent society.

Obviously, much more work is to be done.