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They were shocked when they heard... I'm not
The Buffalo shooter hails from a place not far from here: Conklin, NY. This may be New York but it's Upstate New York and there are plenty of rednecks up this way. You can drive 5 minutes out of town and find Confederate flags flying.
Look, I get the whole "Rebel" schtick: being a 'rebel' makes you anti-establishment (usually anti-parent) and still be cool and macho. Although rebellion is associated with freeing yourself from tyrany - the Confederate battle flag was the flag of the slavers and tyrants, not those who wanted freedom for everyone. It meant freedom to go round up black people and enslave them. Before the Civil war, slavers would travel to free states and kidnap both runaway slaves and free blacks. It didn't matter - black people were property. *That* is what the 'rebel flag' stands for.
To top off the racial hatred this young man had, he previously threatened to shoot up his high school. Yeah, a real champ.
-m
Look, I get the whole "Rebel" schtick: being a 'rebel' makes you anti-establishment (usually anti-parent) and still be cool and macho. Although rebellion is associated with freeing yourself from tyrany - the Confederate battle flag was the flag of the slavers and tyrants, not those who wanted freedom for everyone. It meant freedom to go round up black people and enslave them. Before the Civil war, slavers would travel to free states and kidnap both runaway slaves and free blacks. It didn't matter - black people were property. *That* is what the 'rebel flag' stands for.
To top off the racial hatred this young man had, he previously threatened to shoot up his high school. Yeah, a real champ.
-m
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He's succeeded at that.
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Alas, I see that awful flag in my area too. Rednecks have become a terrible disease in this nation.