As proposals to ban the Confederate flag gain momentum across the
South in the wake of the Charleston church massacre, a civil-rights
group is warning that white supremacists will try to exploit any
backlash as a recruitment tool.
Officials at the Southern Poverty Law Center say fringe groups are framing the removal of the flag as "cultural genocide."
"There's no question that organized white
supremacy right now is using the battle flag as a rallying cry for their
views," said Heidi Beirich, Intelligence Project director for the
center.
Neo-Confederate and white-pride groups say the
flag is a symbol of Southern heritage and a memorial to Civil War dead —
not a symbol of the racist views of Dylann Roof, the white gunman who
killed nine black church members last week.
Loud calls to take down the flag from the South
Carolina capital and from other government-sponsored locations has
opponents planning rallies and mulling boycotts.
No comments:
Post a Comment