Confederate Flag Debate

I am innocent” (Pfeifer, “Historic”; “Shipp”). After the death of Ed Johnson, there was much protest from the blacks in the community (“Shipp”). As a result, the mayor of Chattanooga closed all saloons and deputized 200 men (“Shipp”). Even people outside of Chattanooga were affected by Johnson’s death (Pfeifer, “Historic”; “Shipp”). The Supreme Court was shocked and infuriated (Pfeifer, “Historic”).

Mike Brown is the modern day Emmitt till, the six little girls burned in the church, and Trayvon Martin combined into one. The events that happened soon after arguably changed the lives of Ferguson citizens forever. Ferguson citizens was justified in their response due to the death of Mike Brown, police brutality, and the results of the indictment. The main cause of the riots that took place in Ferguson is the fact that Mike Brown was brutally gunned down by a white police office while he was unarmed and hands up.

How many soldiers died for the confederate flag? One thousand, ten thousand? Over twenty two thousand brave soldiers died in battle for the confederate flag, and many people want to pretend that it has never happened by erasing all trace of the confederacy. This past July a twenty one year old open fired on a African Methodist church, in total nine black people died. This resparked the everlasting debate, is the confederate flag a flag of history or hate.

By the same token, in 2016 there was a total of 7,615 victims of biased hate crimes. Of those 7,615, 29% or 2,220 of the victims were African Americans. Letting such a gracious amount of people die purely for the color of their skin is not only a crime against the people of the United States but a crime against the world. On May 20, 2017, African American university student and lieutenant in the US army Richard Collins was stabbed waiting for an Uber with his friends. Collins was three days away from graduating college.

As a result all of Kent State’s communications broke down. The shootings caused massive protests, both violent and nonviolent. The protests caused 450 other campuses around the nation to close down. One specific group of protesters at New York University hung a banner outside of a school window that said “They Can’t Kill Us All”. On May 8th at the University of Mexico, eleven people were bayoneted after trying to confront protesters at the school.

Lee had the intention of drawing the Union’s men out into the open, and having his army attack them right then and there. As Lee and his army approached Gettysburg, Lee became aware that there was a shoe factory nearby, and that most of his army did not have shoes, so they started heading to the shoe factory. Little did they know, the factory was crawling with Union soldiers. The Union and Confederate fired shots at each other for three days, resulting in a rough estimate of 50,000

On November 18, 1978 a cult of Americans known as the ‘Peoples Temple’ became a part of a mass suicide under the order of their leader Jim Jones (History.com Staff). Established in 1956 the ‘Peoples Temple’ was a racially integrated church that focused on helping people in need (Rosenberg). This tragedy occurred in Guyana, located in South America, and stole the lives of over 900 innocent people. The cause of death was unusual and something that isn’t often seen. Jones had somehow managed to convince, and

Fear struck the community, this dark and stormy night. Things came in stages and out of nowhere. We begin our remembrance ceremony here today with broken hearts in this town in which about 3 weeks ago, this place became the site for yet again another fatal shooting. About half the community killed in a deadly mass shooting in this dome. As we stand here in this ceremony joined by victims and community with points of light shining in the darkness.

On September 28, 1868, two to three hundred African Americans were massacred in Opelousas, Louisiana( Tischauser xvii). States all over had to deal with race riots. On November 10, 1898, whites killed eight African Americans during a race riot in Wilmington, North Carolina( Tischauser xviii). One incident in particular, the East St. Louis race riot in 1917, hit the nation hard. This riot tore this city apart.

On March 19-20 1935, More than 10,000 people rioted the streets to protest the perceived police brutality against blacks. When it ended 125 people were arrested, more than 100 people had been injured, and 3 individuals were dead, all of them black. Property damage to 200

Not very long after his arrest pictures surfaced of roof holding the pistol along with the Confederate battle flag, which he viewed as a symbol of white supremacy. The next day the American and South carolina state flags were lowered to half-staff as ordered by Gov. Nikki Haley while the Confederate battle flag still stood tall and

The small Union force inside Fort Sumter surrendered to the confederate army. The assault on Fort Sumter began the Civil War the North and South were split up and killed many thousands of soldiers and civilians. The Union victory ended slavery in 1865 but it cost in human life was immense.

The Confederate flag is used as a banner to justify mass shootings like the recent massacre by Dylann Roof in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015. He is suspected of killing 9 African Americans who were praying in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. In April of 2012, Jake England and Alvin Watts killed 3 African Americans and wounded 2 others in Tulsa Oklahoma. These are just a few of the many racist acts committed under the Confederate flag. The Confederate flag has been flown in the South for decades as a symbol of their bravery and valor in the Civil War.

The article titled, “Govt. Powerless To Interfere Says Attorney General”, showed the unwillingness of the federal government to outlaw lynchings. Senator Robert F. Wagner had sent Attorney General Homer Cummings, a telegram, to look into the events of two lynchings in Mississippi and Georgia. According to one report, a mob shot and killed an African-American blacksmith named Tom Green for killing his white boss due to a wage dispute.

Under the Declaration Independence, it says that everyone has the right to life. In America that does not apply to black people. In the early 1920s, there was a large race riot in Tulsa around 300 innocent black people were killed. It started when black shoe shiner Dick Rowland was arrested after being accused of assaulting a white woman in elevator published by a paper eager to win the local circulation war with the title “To Lynch Negro Tonight”. Whites gathered outside the courthouse of where Rowland was being held to lynch him, blacks came from Greenwood to protect Rowland.