Many people from the Southern United States sincerely believe the Civil War-era Confederate Flag is a symbol of Southern heritage and not of racism. However, many of those people probably aren’t aware that South Carolina in particular didn’t actually start flying the Confederate Flag outside its State House until 1962, when it was intended to be a direct rebuke to the Civil Rights movement. This is why to many more people the flag is a symbol of a desire to keep racial minorities as permanent second-class citizens.
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John Oliver had a short segment on the Confederate Flag over the weekend that completely tore both it and its supporters into pieces.
“The Confederate Flag is one of those symbols that should really only be seen on t-shirts, belt buckles and bumper stickers to help the rest of us identify the worst people in the world,” Oliver said before describing how the flag could be used to easily screen out job applicants. “‘Oh, is that a Confederate Flag on your belt, LeAnn? Thanks, the nanny position has already been filled.'”
In the end, Oliver recommends lowering the flag to half mast… then lowering it all together… then taking it off the pole and putting it into a box that’s labeled, “Bad flag.”
Check out the whole segment below.
