The 'Southern Avenger' Repents: I Was Wrong About The Confederate Flag

[bravenak]

BY JACK HUNTER 06.22.154:40 PM ET
As a Charleston, South Carolina-based conservative radio personality known as the “Southern Avenger,” I spent a decade defending the Confederate flag that is yet again the center of so much controversy.

I said the flag was about states’ rights. I said it stood for self-determination. I said it honored heritage.


I argued the Confederate flag wasn’t about race. I believed it. Millions of well-meaning Southerners believe it too.

I was wrong. That flag is always about race. Whatever political or historical points the flag’s defenders make, there will never be a time—and never has been a time—in which millions of Americans have looked at that symbol and not seen hatred.

We can argue for the rest of time whether this is fair or not. And for the rest of time, that symbol will still be seen in an overwhelmingly negative light.

Those who see hatred have political and historical reasons too.

This has always been the Confederate flag debate game. One camp’s arguments are supposed to trump the other’s.




http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/22/the-southern-avenger-repents-i-was-wrong-about-the-confederate-flag.html

[marym625]

1. K&R

Some people actually have the courage to admit when they are wrong. Don't know why everyone can't do that.

Hopefully, his followers will do the same as he has. Though an apology would have been good, this is a big step

[bravenak]

5. I was so shocked to see this that I raced to post it.

My mouth was hanging open reading it. Good read.

[marym625]

15. Great post! glad you did that

Before the sun went down for a couple hours.

It's the first thing I saw this morning. Now I am going to go back to sleep for a couple hours and dream about all the haters waking up, reading this, and admitting they were wrong.

I can dream, can't I?

[bravenak]

17. Ha ha ha!

Have a good sleep!

[SCantiGOP]

31. I've followed this guy for years

I live in Columbia and he writes in Charleston and I have been repulsed and outraged at his writings for years.
I have to give him a tip of the hat for being big enough to finally acknowledge this. Maybe there is hope for the Civil War finally coming to an end for Southerners.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

14. Seeing 'I was wrong' is more important to me than 'I am sorry'.

So many people have devalued the value of apology with the 'nonpology' that it's refreshing to simply see a straightforward 'I was wrong', backed up with some verbiage to show he actually understands why he was wrong, and means it.

I can understand why those most directly wronged might well want to see 'I'm sorry', but I think this will do more good than just another 'I'm sorry to those who might have been offended...'

[marym625]

18. Most definitely

Just thought it would be nice. An, "I was wrong. I'm sorry."

But like you said, the wrong part is more important by far.

[mucifer]

33. Exactly, "to those who might have been offended" means the "apologist"

doesn't believe s/he is wrong. It just means they feel bad they made someone feel bad or it means they felt for political reasons they had to state it so they stated it that way.

[Beartracks]

45. Yeah. "Sorry if you were offended [but I still think this way]." Sheesh. n/t

[HFRN]

36. 'So many people have devalued the value of apology with the 'nonpology''

boy, isn't that the truth, it's one of the key social characteristics of the era

finding a true apology is like finding a diamond

[merrily]

2. Good. Better late than never.

[mmonk]

3. This time with the shootings in Charleston, an epiphany is finally happening.

It sure took a long time but savagery can bring a bright light where none existed.

[Martin Eden]

4. "separate camps constantly at war"

Until we can overcome that mindset, the American people will be a House Divided and unable to stand and work together for our own common interests. The 1% have fostered the divisiveness and count on it to maintain & increase their hold on the wealth & power in our country.

[Cha]

6. That was Powerful, bravenak. Thank you so much for posting..

Very emotional from Jack Hunter and even more so because he's a "conservative radio host".

[bravenak]

7. It was very interesting to see the change he went through.

I hope more people can try to change their minds.

[Cha]

8. Yes! I love it when they do that. I know people can change. It was a riveting account..

very unique perspective.

[madokie]

9. We're going to get there

some kicking and screaming the whole way but we'll get there. There being Equality. I am my brothers keeper, my sisters protector my fathers proud son and my mothers precious baby

No disrespect for anyone in what I said

[bravenak]

16. Think we will get there. Might take a while, but I hope we do.

[madokie]

21. The good most always wins out in the end

Enough that we must keep on working towards that end.

[zentrum]

10. Yeah and after….

..you repent, why don't you atone for it by spending the rest of your life working really hard to change the horrible, lying education southern schools are giving their kids, both black and white.

Make sure they learn about the full extent of Jim Crow and the moment the confederate flag went up in 1963.

"Sorry" is good. But it's way late. There's been a lot of suffering and loss caused by your ignorance.

[Cha]

11. "Dylann Roof reminds us how hate destroys. The families of those he murdered remind us of the love

we’re capable of."

[BumRushDaShow]

12. K&R and I would hope that some of these folks understand

that the "Confederate (NoVA battle) flag" (one of many versions), is a historical piece not unlike this flag -



It has a specific historical context that represents an era in the past, and that is where it needs to remain.

The time of resurrecting Civil War era relics and assigning them new meanings, despite their sordid history, should come to an end.

[bravenak]

13. Yes, they should put them in museums and leave them there.

[virtualobserver]

19. I'm suspicious of this guy

He has been deeply involved with both Ron Paul and Rand Paul and there was a big controversy when it was discovered that the "Southern Avenger" worked for Rand.

As you go deeper into his site you find a lot of standard and very right wing articles

read the entire wikipedia

What caused such a dramatic conversion?

I suspect - Rand Paul 2016

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Hunter_(radio_host)

[bravenak]

20. I hope he's sincere, but I wouldn't put anything past a Paulite.

[virtualobserver]

23. weekly guest on The Savage Nation.

Have you heard the most recent utterances from Michael Savage.

He makes Ann Coulter sound like Gandhi by comparison.

[bravenak]

24. I haven't heard him in a while. I might check out to see how crazy he is over this flag debate.

I used to catch him in the car to see how crazy the right was that week. They live in a very different reality.

[virtualobserver]

25. Michael Savage: Obama Inciting Race War, 'May As Well Be Charles Manson'

six days ago
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/michael-savage-obama-inciting-race-war-may-well-be-charles-manson

[bravenak]

30. Now I remember why I can't listen to him. He does not make sense.

[LiberalArkie]

26. Their politics have not changed, but the right wing may be moving away from racism.

For so long the left has associated right wing, conservative and racist as almost the same. That may be changing as their are now right wing conservative black people. For many years a lot of blacks just did not turn out to vote because they fit into the right wing conservative group. They could not vote R so they did not vote at all. If the right wing and conservatives are abandoning the "Nixon Southern Strategy" then a lot of things may be changing again.

[virtualobserver]

27. the public face may be changing a bit

but in his case, his connection with the vile Michael Savage show his true colors.

He is only 41, and his Southern Avenger "past" rhetoric sounds perfectly compatible with the current Michael Savage thinking.

[Skidmore]

22. He stumbled upon empathy and learned.

That is what is missing in much of this--the capacity to recognize the humanity of others and to understand their pain.

[rurallib]

28. Wonder how the freepers reacted to this

maybe some brave person can go check.
In deference to my blood pressure I stay away from there

[JackInGreen]

29. So nice to see

That every once in a while a lump of shit can open its eyes, grow some humanity, and walk with the rest of us.

[lovemydog]

32. Wow.

I welcome this kind of change. Regardless of motives, I think it's a good sign.

[skepticscott]

34. Sorry, not buying it

This smells a lot more like frantically shifting with social and political winds in order to keep his blog from becoming marginalized or his income stream from drying up. He has undoubtedly been presented many, many times with the same arguments against his positions that he claims changed his mind over the past couple weeks. Is it just a shocking coincidence that they finally took hold just when open support for the Confederate flag and neo-Confederate ideals have finally crossed the line to become politically toxic? I think not. This is self-interested ass-covering, pure and simple.

[bravenak]

35. You're probably right.

[mnhtnbb]

38. That is a really cynical POV. Kind of thing I might think!

But epiphanies do happen. I don't know this guy, his blog, or radio show.

My husband has relatives in Georgia who probably think a lot the way this guy does.
They are good people, but I've seen the racist attitudes. Sometimes it takes
a smack in the head to wake up. Perhaps the murders in Charleston will turn out
to be just such a smack in the head that will make some folks wake up to how
that Confederate flag can't be seen as anything other than a symbol of hatred
and oppression.

[arcane1]

52. Like he knew he was dog-whistling all along, it appears. n/t

[Botany]

37. I hope I am wrong but I don't buy his "stuff"

He drinks a toast to John Wilkes Booth on the anniversary of Booth's birth.

[mnhtnbb]

39. That is sick. Really sick. It would be like drinking a toast to Lee Harvey Oswald.

[bravenak]

40. Disgusting.

[skepticscott]

42. Exactly...the guy is scum

And he's been scum for a long, long time. One little post of pseudo-repentance doesn't change that.

[mercuryblues]

41. still

Those who defend the Confederate flag always have to add the caveat that others have “appropriated” it for racist causes. This is true.

Don't get me wrong, I find his turn around and willingness to share it fascinating. He still doesn't get it. He gives the people defending it an out for their racism- heritage. The flag was designed as a symbol of white supremacy. The racists aren't appropriating it, those who claim it is heritage are the ones who are appropriating its use.

[bravenak]

43. They can never fully admit what the flag is.

[BrotherIvan]

44. I don't know who this guy is

But I must say that to say what he says...I don't think it's a ploy. Conservatives mostly dig in their heels rather than admit they are wrong. And looking weak to liberuls or us coloreds is like a death sentence in their minds.

I think this is a brainwashed person seeing a tiny crack of light. And I think it is because of the infinite grace shown by the families and church members in Charleston. When they see people (justifiably) rioting in Ferguson and Baltimore, that feeds into the story they have been told. But when they see something that contradicts that narrative, it made him question it (if only a small part of it and only for a fleeting moment).

This is very important. It has been shown in studies that a person raised in a racist/bigoted household, if they meet and have a positive experience with a person of color or a gay person by the age of 18, they will question those beliefs and most likely abandon them (for the most part). Not so after that. Conservatives absolutely know this and this is why we have seen the rise of the homeschool movement and "Christian"/segregated universities because they want to raise more racist bigots. They were able to do it before with economic segregation, but the basic growing and changing of the population has made that less possible.

So my head is kicking around, if we really want to end racism in this country, could we do it within a generation or two? Just by ensuring that children meet and interact with children of a different race in a positive way. And then to have those interactions reinforced by teachers and authority figures. The people I have met with the most racist baggage always say, "In my school there was only one black/brown kid--or none." It wasn't until college that they met someone and then had to change years of teaching.

But that would require the sacrifice of many people of color who are willing to wade into these snakepits and who really wants to do that. And if we could get some kind of fairness laws to deal with the national white supremacy dog whistle network (fox) and hate radio then the daily broadcast reinforcement of racism could be turned off.

I don't know the answer. But I know it is the only solution I have ever seen. Once hatred takes hold, it is hard to get it out. Many articles are saying the shift in attitude toward LGBTQ came from people coming out and family and friends realizing that they knew someone gay. It is personal and familiar. Authoritarians only change their minds when it effects them, so let's change their minds early.

[bravenak]

50. I don't really have a good answer, lord knows if WE could have fixed it it would have been done.

I think that this nation is remarkable good at playing pretend and glossing over the bad shit. We need to teach about slavery like we teach about the Holocaust. Stop allowing people to teach children that slaves were just like family member. We need teach the slave story side by side with everything else, not just do a unit on black history and leave it at that. Teach everything.
When we teach about the founding fathers, sometimes they don't even mention that these men own men and women and children. We don't teach about the atrocities aginst the native americans. We need to have a national project where we acknowledge the wrongs done and talk about it. We need to say sorry and start helping the descendants of slaves trace their heritage. There has never been anything done in a way to right any of th wrongs, so some people don't think there was anything wrong done.
I think if we did that we woukd as a nation gain a bit of legitimacy that we crave. People waving constitutions around and flags know that we are a nation built on blood and slave and genocides and lies of freedom and equality. That's why they wave them so hard, they crave legitimacy that that piece of paper gives them, assuages the guilt about living on stolen land. I think we have got to face up to our past.

Really, I don't really think it's up to us to fix racism. I think white folks have to come to grips with the fact that it is a white problem, they have to fix their own issues. No amount of money will fix the sickness inside. No matter if black people gave up on nice clothes, hip hop, dancing well and cool hair styles tomorrow, the racism would remain. Nothing we can do about it, it's their job to fix themselves.

[BrotherIvan]

55. Damn, you are smart

That is such a good idea. Yes, we need to teach the WHOLE history, the one that no one wants to talk about. And it can be done. Education is so wrapped up in testing, but one thing that is not tested is history. That is where it can be mandated that the true story be on the test so teachers can't get out of teaching it. Obama could make Arne Duncan start working on it now. There has been such a gap that people really do believe that fucking Gone with the Wind was real.

I read this article today and it talks about just this. The ignorance that now the rwnjs are exploiting even further and talking about happy, well cared-for slaves. People want to believe it so they do. Education, in graphic, realistic terms may not change every child of a racist overnight, but in a few generations, it can dwindle down their numbers because everyone won't be fed lies all the time.

http://www.vox.com/2015/6/29/8847385/what-i-learned-from-leading-tours-about-slavery-at-a-plantation

I am going to think about this and maybe craft a letter. I think we should be demanding that children learn the truth, through actual field trips if possible or movies and lessons. They need to be taught not to be racists. I think in California which makes its own testing and doesn't adopt the shit from Texas, we might get it started. I wonder if DU member could help us craft the idea and find a way to get this idea out there.

I hear what you are saying that it is not black people's job to change the minds of white racists. But if we wait, I and you and the generations long after us will still be dealing with this shit. I don't know, it just feels like we have to do something. I've been waiting for a movement for a while now and nothing seems to come together.

[bullwinkle428]

46. So does this mean Rand Paul's "conversation" with Cliven Bundy was more

along the lines of an "interview", to replace the position vacated by the "Southern Avenger"?

[bravenak]

49. Lol!

I wanna see Rand Paul dress up in that suit the Avenger used to wear. I'd pay to see it.

[Skittles]

47. I do not believe they "did not know" it was about race

nice that they're coming around, but to say they didn't know - complete bullshit

[bravenak]

48. Me neither.

Glad they're running away from the flag though. He's probably fulla shit but it's nice to see them run away from their own shit.

[Jefferson23]

51. The honored heritage bullshit is the most egregious. I mean, really? Yea, your ancestors weren't

pissed off b/c they lost..so what the hell were you honoring but their fight to continue to own people.

Nonetheless, it is encouraging, bravenak.


K&R

[bravenak]

54. Agree. I feel mildly encouraged.nt

[alphafemale]

53. This is what an apology looks like.

Not one of those I'm sorry people....etc.

Someone that can swallow their pride and do this has some strength of character.