bob10
7th January 2021, 06:36 PM
Most Australians — aside from a few groups dedicated to reenacting American Civil War battles (http://2ndvirginiacsa.tripod.com/index.html) and history buffs including Bob Carr (https://www.newsmaker.com.au/news/287596/american-civil-war-continues-to-interest-bob-carr-speaking#.XxksmfgzZyp) and Kim Beazley (https://www.smh.com.au/national/all-the-pms-men-20090917-ftpg.html) — were not familiar until recently with the charged history of the flag of the Confederate States of America.
Now the flag is in the Australian news with reports SAS military in Afghanistan in 2012 used the bold red, blue and white flag to guide in a US helicopter (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-22/australian-soldiers-with-a-confederate-flag/12477738?nw=0). Two SAS personnel also posed for a photograph (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-22/australian-soldiers-signal-with-confederate-flag-in-afghanistan/12476530) with the flag.
Why do these images of Australian soldiers posing with a flag from another country’s long-ago war provoke such strong reactions? Because the flag has long symbolised defiance, rebellion, an ideal of whiteness and the social and political exclusion of non-white people — in a word, racism.
Why is the Confederate flag so offensive? (theconversation.com) (https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-confederate-flag-so-offensive-143256?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The%20Weekend%20Conversation%20-%201827917782&utm_content=The%20Weekend%20Conversation%20-%201827917782+CID_dd9c33a422778368a2b01da11a852029&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=Why%20is%20the%20Confederate%20flag%20so% 20offensive)
Now the flag is in the Australian news with reports SAS military in Afghanistan in 2012 used the bold red, blue and white flag to guide in a US helicopter (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-22/australian-soldiers-with-a-confederate-flag/12477738?nw=0). Two SAS personnel also posed for a photograph (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-22/australian-soldiers-signal-with-confederate-flag-in-afghanistan/12476530) with the flag.
Why do these images of Australian soldiers posing with a flag from another country’s long-ago war provoke such strong reactions? Because the flag has long symbolised defiance, rebellion, an ideal of whiteness and the social and political exclusion of non-white people — in a word, racism.
Why is the Confederate flag so offensive? (theconversation.com) (https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-confederate-flag-so-offensive-143256?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The%20Weekend%20Conversation%20-%201827917782&utm_content=The%20Weekend%20Conversation%20-%201827917782+CID_dd9c33a422778368a2b01da11a852029&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=Why%20is%20the%20Confederate%20flag%20so% 20offensive)