Take Down That Flag – But Don’t Stop There. The Wolves Have Teeth. [James Gribble]

photo: agasfer, CC via Flickr

When that one flag comes down in Charleston, watch how many flags go up all over the country. Watch how they sell out at the truck stops. The removal of one flag is not the end of anything. It is another beginning. It will provoke this hateful ideology to greater boldness. When symbols of (White) supremacy are supplanted, beneficiaries of the status quo will always circle their young and show their teeth.

It isn’t as if the wolves were toothless, before. They just had no reason to grin. But threaten their dominance and they will grin, even bite. Restrictions on western expansion of slavery, emancipation of slaves, voting rights for Black people, desegregation of schools, affirmative action, police accountability, and the removal of confederate battle flags from state capitals all threatened White Supremacy. And whenever ideologies of supremacy are threatened, we see resistance in the form of more overt action from the dominant class. Enter the KKK. (Or, we might recall why the flag in question was raised in SC in the first place back in the ‘62.)

What do we see when the right of Black people to exist (even as criminals) is proclaimed? KKK membership and gun ownership simultaneously balloon.‪ #‎BlackLivesMatter‬ protests did not create the racism that flooded KKK rolls last summer. They exposed it.

Protest points and says, “Yo, that bush is moving!” When the ninja jumps out, it was because he couldn’t hide anymore. Protest didn’t create him. He was always there. He was always dangerous. If you didn’t see the racism ninja before, wait until this flag comes down, wait until other states follow suit, wait until Obama gets on TV and tells other states to follow suit. Then, watch that bush.

When that flag comes down, take some time to listen to local talk-radio (current conversation, this morning, defense of Confederate flags and the Bedford bust in Nashville) and let the fact that Dylann Roof’s manifesto isn’t shocking shock you. When that flag comes down, watch the message boards and comment sections and see how Roof had extreme methods, but relatively moderate ideas.

Most of all, don’t let anyone convince you that your work is over because one flag was removed from one state capital.

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James Gribble lives in Cookeville, a small college town in Middle Tennessee, with his wife and two sons. He and his wife host a weekly meal and Bible study in their home and he is on the preaching rotation for a small emergent collective in which he participates. Follow him on Twitter.