The Patriotic Racist

Take a look at this picture I saw on Facebook yesterday.  Let me describe it to you.

This self-proclaimed patriot, Dave Southern, ostensibly says he takes issue with flag burning.  He’s crouching in front of an American flag, an AR-15 cradled in his lap.  He’s wearing a tactical vest, sunglasses, a baseball cap, and appears to have a lip full of chewing tobacco.  He is pouring a bottle of grape soda on the ground in front of him as he simultaneously burns a bucket of KFC chicken.

The text of his message is as follows:

This photo is in response to all those un-American black punks in Baltimore, chanting “Fuck America” while burning the U.S. flag. As a proud American and coming from a long line of U.S. Veterans, disrespecting our flag like that makes me furious beyond words.  I love this country for the principles and foundation that it was built on. Countless people have dies just so you have the right to disrespect and trash talk out country. If you honestly don’t like it here in America, Then leave.  It’s as simple as that.  If any of my friends have any American balls and aren’t focused on that transgender washed out murderer, The share this picture. I want this to reach Baltimore. Before anyone starts calling me a “Racist” or any of that crap, this picture is aimed at ANY pieces of shit that have burned the U.S. flag.  I have black friends/ old co-workers who also strongly disagree with Baltimore/Ferguson.

So let’s catalog his words and his picture:

1. The “black punks” in Baltimore are un-American in his opinion
2. He is angry over the burning of the flag
3. He has an issue with Bruce Jenner’s sexual orientation, even though he doesn’t call her by name.
4. He asserts he is not racist.
5. He is burning a bucket of KFC chicken
6. He is pouring grape soda on the ground.

What do transgender issues, burning a bucket of fried chicken, and pouring out grape soda have to do with expressing outrage over burning the flag?

Absolutely nothing.  But it has everything to do with bigotry and racism.  Let’s start with . . .

The White Symbol of America: The American Flag

The symbol Dave Southern embraces is the American flag.  He’s a patriot, after all, from a long line of white patriots.  The American flag is the symbol of his country.  ‘MURICA!  He is angry that it has been burned.  So he retaliates by “desecrating” what he perceives to be the symbols of black people in America: fried chicken and grape soda.  That’s about as unsubtle as it gets, people.  He grasps the racially-insulting stereotype and uses it to piss off black people in America. But he’s not a racist.  He said so, remember?  He even has black friends, lest we forget.  And old co-workers who are black.

He is denying the American flag as a symbol to black people.  It’s his symbol, not theirs.  Even though the Supreme Court has ruled again and again that flag burning is an expression of free speech – that only applies to white Americans to whom the flag is a symbol for.

This is racist.  The American flag is a symbol for all Americans, not just white people.

The Black Symbol of America; Fried Chicken and Grape Soda

If Dave Southern believed that the American flag was a symbol for all Americans, and not just white Americans, he would hardly be burning a bucket of KFC and pouring grape soda on the ground.  Black people don’t rate, in his opinion.  They don’t deserve the American flag.  They get derogatory stereotypes as symbols, and he’s out to piss off black America by burning their symbol, just like black people angered him by burning his symbol.  But again, he’s not racist, remember?

Black people drinking grape soda is a derogatory stereotype.  The thinking is that more black people drink grape soda than white people – that black people love grape soda – or that’s all they can afford.  The most frequent black person stereotypes revolve around the belief that they really like fried chicken, Kool-Aid, watermelon and grape-flavored drinks.

This is racist in the extreme, and saying you’re not racist doesn’t make it any less so.

Sexuality is somehow a factor in an accident

While Dave Southern doesn’t refer to Bruce Jenner by name, he is clearly referencing her in his diatribe, calling her a murderer for her involvement in a fatal car crash earlier this year.  Not only does Dave Southern have preemptive knowledge of the justice system in America, he’s positive Jenner’s sexuality is a factor worth mentioning.

Bruce Jenner has, literally, nothing to do with the protests in Baltimore, the riots in Baltimore, or the burning of American flag.  Yet somehow she’s significant enough to rate mention in a rant that is supposed to be about flag burning.  This is typical thinking by a guy like this, I suspect.  His hates and outrages are all the same and blend into one big mass of ambiguous loathing for anything that isn’t just like him.

Sad Fact: People Agree With This Idiot

I was shocked and dismayed to see that in the space of just a single day, this image was shared over 160,000 times on Facebook.  Yeah, 160,000.  That many discrete individuals read this message, agreed with the hatred and racism so much that they were willing to share it with their friends.

The average number of friends a person has on Facebook is about 400.  That means approximately 64 million people saw this hate-filled message disguised as patriotism.  64,000,000.  Or 25% of the American population if every viewer was American.

That’s a staggering number of impressions this racist received for his message.  160,000 people shared this message with millions of like-minded individuals.

Happy Fact: Some People did Not Agree With This Idiot

When I went back to Facebook today, the post was gone.  Enough people recognized it for the hate propaganda that it was and reported it to Facebook, whereupon they pulled it.  I was one of those who reported the message as inappropriate, but was smart enough to grab the screenshot before it disappeared forever.  If his impression of hate is going to survive, I’m going to make sure the world knows the idiot who spews ignorance.

The scary fact is that this message still had enough wind behind it to reach tens of millions of people before it was removed.  The damage was done.  Hate was perpetuated and ignorance was embraced by millions.

The Patriotic Racist

This guy is a poster child for misplaced patriotism.  In his America, the flag can’t be burned, ever.  It’s a crime.  Black people are not allowed to protest, because, after all, they have it way better than they used to.  Homosexuality is a terrible thing and homophobia is perfectly acceptable.  Oh, and he has an AR-15 and thinks it’s entirely appropriate to use it to imply a threat against black people who burn American flags.

As my friend Paxxer points out, he’s even displaying the flag incorrectly.

“When the flag is displayed in a manner other than by being flown from a staff, it should be displayed flat, whether indoors or out. When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the union should be uppermost and to the flag’s own right, that is, to the observer’s left. When displayed in a window it should be displayed in the same way, that is with the union or blue field to the left of the observer in the street. When festoons, rosettes or drapings are desired, bunting of blue, white and red should be used, but never the flag.”

He’s not only a bigoted, intolerant, racist; he’s ignorant of how to display the symbol he claims to cherish so dearly.  So, in other words; he’s an idiot.

This is the default patriotism of so many fundamentalists in America, especially in the South.  This hatred is an everyday attitude,  and the world is a darker place for it. Lets examine the ignorance, hatred, and bigotry of some of Dave Southern’s other Facebook posts.  These same posts could have come from anyone – he’s not unique in his twisted form of hatred and logic.  This is the uneducated hate that fills the underbelly of social media every day nowadays.  Social media shines a light not only on the best of humanity, but also the worst.

Not sure what I can say here; the hatred and bigotry is plain as day.  It’s a joke to this idiot that a homosexual couple was beaten nearly to death in Philadelphia.  And eleven of his friends laughed with him, “liking” the post.  Sickening.  Humans are humans; no one deserves an unprovoked beating for any reason, let alone sexuality.

Twenty of his friends buy the fallacious argument that everyone on government aid abuses the system.  And he is laying claim on the goods and property of those who are forced to rely on government assistance.  He seems to be advocating indentured servitude, if not outright slavery.  After all, his taxes paid for the program – so these unfortunate souls owe Dave SOuthern and should pay him back.

And last, but not least, the good old “Fuck Islam” picture with an American flag in the background.  After all, his America is Christian.  It has no room in it for Moslems, Hindus, Atheists, or any other religion.  You must be Christian, probably Southern Baptist if I had to guess, to be in his America.

Parting Thoughts

Dave Southern is not unique.  There are, unfortunately, millions of him in the world.  He is not a majority, though.  He is becoming a minority – which is why these idiots are getting more vocal.  They are becoming increasingly irrelevant and inconsequential in the world that is moving past them.  He is a dinosaur destined for extinction.  His days are numbered.

Dave Southern is a coward.  He can’t face a world of tolerance and acceptance, and can’t accept a world any different than the one he knows.  He is afraid of change.  He is afraid of losing his white privilege.  His fear leads him to hate, and his hate leads to this – being used as an example of a racist bigot who couches his hatred as patriotism.

He is not a patriot.  He is un-American – that’s the irony.

Friends, readers; when you see idiots like this on social  media please call them out.  Shine a light on their hatred and expose them for the cowards they really are.