Ethnicities

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | — There was a rash of Confederate flag removals on Wednesday. The governor of Alabama had it removed from the statehouse. The governor of Virginia recalled vanity plates with the flag on them. Some Mississippi legislators proposed removing it from the state flag. Amazon, E-Bay and other retailers […]

African-Americans

Is the Confederate flag unconstitutional?

contributors

By Alfred L Brophy | (The Conversation) | – The tragedy in Charleston has revived the movement to take the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina statehouse grounds. On Monday June 22 – five days after the shooting in the AME Emanuel Church – South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley called a press conference to […]

African-Americans

What South Carolina needs to do for Racial equality (taking down the flag is just symbolic)

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – – Governor Nikki Haley announced on Monday that she would attempt to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of the statehouse, recognizing the pain it causes the one-third of the state who are African-Americans (about a quarter of whites also don’t care if it is up or […]

African-Americans

Top 5 Reasons Confederate Flag should stop Flying at SC Statehouse

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – 1. The Confederate flag in its current form was adopted by the seceding slave states to differentiate their banner from the Stars and Stripes on the battlefield. It isn’t a symbol of regionalism. It is a symbol of violent attack on the Union. 2. Those who […]

African-Americans

Patterns of Racial Violence in the US: Charleston Shooting wasn’t a “One-Off” Event

contributors

By Ethan Zuckerman | (The Conversation) | – – When you read about Dylann Roof, think about the patterns he represents. There’s more than one. Over the next few days, we’re going to hear about mental illness. We’re going to hear about troubled loners. We’ll hear about a young man’s racist fantasies, so outrageous that […]

Arab Americans

European Islamophobic Networks influenced Roof to Kill in Charleston

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Muslim-hatred of the Geert Wilders and Marine LePens in Europe, for which Daniel Pipes, and Pamela Geller, and the whole Islamophobic network are cheerleaders and enablers, was a key influence on Dylann Roof, according to his manifesto. These same hatemongers helped whip Norwegian white supremacist […]

African-Americans

1871: First US Anti-Terror Law banned White Racist attacks on Black Officials, Voters

contributors

Dara Lind | (Vox Video Report) | – – “Was the shooting that killed 9 people in Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church on Wednesday terrorism? Vox’s Dara Lind explains.” Vox: “The Charleston shooting is part of a long history of anti-black terrorism”

African-Americans

How Lindsey Graham & GOP lost the Chance to be Presidential over Charleston

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in my view never had any chance of becoming president, though he has thrown his hat into the ring for the Republican nomination. So it would be an overstatement to say that he lost the opportunity because of his maladroit response to […]

African-Americans

Sexism, Racism and Terrorism: Roof’s Misuse of Women to justify Lynching

Juan Cole

By Lisa Wade | (The Conversation) | – – Many important things will be said in the next few weeks about the murder of nine people holding a prayer meeting at a historic African American church in Charleston, South Carolina on the evening of June 17. Here I want to focus on what the suspected […]