A Confederate Flag In Kiev–oh the horror of it all!

by Al Benson Jr.

The article that appeared on http://www.presstv.ir  was headlined “Anti-Russians display controversial  US Confederate flag in Kiev.” I could tell that the people who put this little piece together knew as much about American history as the Easter Bunny. In fact, the bunny might have a little edge on them. To start off, the Confederate flags, any of them, were never “US Confederate flags.”  They were American flags, but never US flags. They are right about the Confederate flag being controversial, but only because they have made such a big fuss over it with their lies and distortions about it.

The article started off: “This was the flag of slave-holding states in the United States that seceded in 1861, causing Civil War.” Wrong again, boys! The Confederate flag seen in Kiev, and I watched the You Tube video of it myself,  was the Confederate Battle  Flag, or more properly, the Confederate Naval Jack. It was only ever carried by Confederate fighting men. It was never the “official” flag of the Confederate States although the 2nd and 3rd National Confederate flags did have the St. Andrews Cross on them. A side bar to the article referred to it as the “Stars and Bars.” Wrong again.  The Stars and Bars was the First National flag of the Confederacy and had no St. Andrews Cross on it. And so the comedy or errors continued.

The article droned on: “Today the symbol is used by the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi groups, and other organizations who are hostile to African-Americans…Many people were greatly disturbed to see that the Confederate flag is now being displayed, not in the United States, but in Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. Larry Holmes, a civil rights activist in New York City, explained why the flag was so offensive…” Just a little more skewed “history” if history you can even call it, which I doubt. I am curious as to whether the totally objective and unbiased writer of this article ever went online and did any homework about the KKK. If he did, he wasn’t about to tell anyone what he found. You can look on the Internet and find photographs of KKK marches and demonstrations from years ago, some of them consisting of hundereds of KKK members–all carrying not Confederate, but United States flags. If you follow the simplistic logic of this columnist then that must make the US flag “racist” also, doesn’t it? In fact, I remember seeing a KKK demonstration in Charleston, West Virginia well over 35 years ago at which the US flag was prominently displayed. Don’t remember seeing any Confederate flags at all there.

And then, there is the matter of the “civil rights activist” from New York City who talked about why Confederate flags are so terribly “offensive.” I wonder if anyone bothered to look up Mr. Holmes on the Internet. I didn’t think so. Had they bothered they would have found out, on http://en.wikipedia.org that “Larry Holmes is the highest official in the Workers World Party, holding the position of First Secretary, and a member of the party Secretariat. He founded the Millions for Mumia movement, which seeks the release of Mumia Abu-Jamal…” Remember him? He’s the cop killer that shot a Philadelphia police officer in the back and then stood over him and shot him five times more, once in the face. An ex-Black Panther, good old Mumia is a real piece of work. Mr. Holmes apparently would like to see him released. Wikipedia also commented on the Workers World Party which he is First Secretary of. It observed: “Workers World Party (WWP) is a Marxist-Leninist communist party in the United States” which split from the Socialist Workers Party several years ago, over disputes that have nothing to do with the present situation. So, it seems that Larry Holmes, the “civil rights activist” is a Marxist-Leninist.  Does that give you the slightest clue as to why he hates the Confederate flag–any Confederate flag anywhere?

Don’t you just love it when these honest, objective news commentators refurbish all the Marxists by rebaptizing  them as “civil rights activists?” Years ago, when we were in New England, I recall hearing about a man who was a featured guest lecturer for several days at a prestigious college there.  I’ve referred to this before, so some who have read my articles for awhile will know whereof I speak. The man was billed, for the gullible students, as a “community organizer.” Well, he was an organizer all right, but hardly one for communities. Turned out he was a well-known Communist Party member, and part of a Communist front group that was active in, guess what–“civil rights.” “Community organizer”–does that sound familiar? “Civil rights activist”–just one more Red biscuit on the same collectivist plate. So the opposition to a Confederate flag over in Kiev comes from a Marxist, or possibly more than one Marxist, and our sterling, totally objective news media just sorta happened to forget to mention that. Makes you wonder what else they “forgot” to mention. It also makes, or should make, you realize that these are not the people you want to get your news from.

When the Berlin Wall was coming down, Confederate flags appeared all over Eastern Europe in demonstrations.  They were universally viewed there, as one Romanian girl told us, as “freedom flags.”

The Confederate flag is, truly, a symbol of resistance to tyranny, both in this messed-up country and in Europe and even some places in Africa. And this is exactly why Communists of all stripes absolutely detest it and why they are working to get the American public to feel the same way they do.  Their misery loves company. It doesn’t love liberty.

If you want to learn about the true origins of Marxism in the United States then read the book written by Walter D. Kennedy and myself, Lincoln’s Marxists published by Pelican Publishing in Gretna, Louisiana.