Fleur de lis the next social justice warrior target?
How long before all the “troubling” history has been expunged from the record?
Long overdue, the Confederate battle flag no longer flies over South Carolina’s capitol grounds thanks to the state’s Republican leadership. While undeniably part of America’s historical record, the stars and bars has no place on government buildings.
Not content to celebrate this victory with the rest of rational America, the politically correct mob pushed the issue of the battle flag into ridiculous territory. But now that social justice warriors have eradicated racism from the free-market Jesus paradise South by exiling the confederate battle flag from public consciousness, they must have another object with which to be outraged.
Progressives in Louisiana may have found the next historical atrocity to expunge from the record, the fleur de lis.
Citing instances where runaway slaves were branded with fleur de lis’, New Orleans local news explored the icon’s “troubled history.”
The fleur de lis is a symbol that is deeply ingrained in Louisiana’s history. Seen in architecture, the state flag and on the helmets of the Saints, it’s everywhere.
But while it is now seen as the mark of our great state, it was once used to mark slaves.
“Code noir, those words are French and mean black code,” said slave historian Dr. Ibrahima Seck.
The black code was a set of regulations adopted in Louisiana in 1724 from other French colonies around the world, meant to govern the state’s slave population. Seck said those rules included branding slaves with the fleur de lis as punishment for running away.
“He would be taken before a court and the sentence would be being branded on one shoulder and with the fleur de lis, and then they would crop their ears,” Seck said.
Seck said if that slave ran away a second time, he or she would be branded again, but with another brutality added. Their hamstrings would be cut.
To him, this symbol only brings sad thoughts.
“As an African I find it painful, and I think people whose ancestors were enslaved here may feel it even harder than I do as an African,” Seck said.
Tulane history professor Terence Fitzmorris said the fleur de lis has roots in the French the revolution and, similar to other symbols, was used as a mark of supremacy.
“It was a brutal way of scarring someone and also identifying someone as a particular troublemaker,” Fitzmorris said.
How long before all the “troubling” history has been removed from the books? As we’ve discussed before:
History is mean, evil, grotesque, and riddled with human imperfections. Recognizing mankind’s failings doesn’t expunge them from the record. If anything, we must ensure future generations deeply understand our strides to expand the blessings of liberty so they may continue that fight. You don’t teach history by erasing the icky bits.
Banishing an image and believing that’s some sort of benchmark for equality? Trouncing the first amendment rights of others? Neither of these are productive endeavors. Neither maximizes equality nor liberty nor freedom. But both are painfully ignorant.
Thankfully, in this instance both historians agree there must be an end to the madness. “Where do you stop? Do you get rid of all symbols?” asked Fitzmorris.
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Post has been updated. Previous version incorrectly stated “North Carolina” removed the flag.
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Comments
Wrong. North Carolina hasn’t had a confederate flag over the state house in a long time. For that matter, South Carolina hasn’t had a confederate flag flying over the state house in 15 years. The fuss over the last few weeks has been about a flag flying at a war memorial, which is exactly where it belongs. It was wrong to remove it. If it can’t fly there, where exactly can it fly?
They want it no where.
It has incorrectly been established as a symbol of racism. This is China’s cultural revolution incarnate.
The South should take this flag back and give the PC police the middle finger Foxtrot Oscar they so richly deserve.
If I were from the south, I’d be flying it loud and proud and guarding with lead and brass. I full on support anyone who flies it and condemn anyone who does so in a racial context.
Funny the left isn’t so critical of Islamic symbols of oppression. It’s selective outrage as usual.
“If I were from the south, I’d be flying it loud and proud and guarding with lead and brass. I full on support anyone who flies it and condemn anyone who does so in a racial context.”
That is exactly what is happening in NC local areas. I’m seeing numerous businesses placing the flag in windows, I’m seeing more flag bumper stickers on cars and trucks. I’m seeing a LOT of confederate flags on front porches.
Until recently, NC state gov was all Democrat for decades and decades and decades, and they long ago took it off government buildings.
Will our pure society continue to permit our libraries to contain books that refer in any manner to these prior evils?
We have seen this, before. Another thread today discussed an attack on Carly Fiorina for daring to criticize the present-day positions of the people who call themselves feminists.
With every win, radicals just get further and further out there, and the lies they tell about their political rivals get wilder.
Again, I say, the proper thing to do at that Confederate war memorial in South Carolina is to ADD the story of these nine murders in the church, and the families’ victim impact statements at the bail hearing. It will take longer than taking down that flag, and it should happen, flag or not. I would make a mirror-image addition to the church, just to show the connection between the state and this church, which is also part of the history of South Carolina.
Finally, we need to know what our warts are and were. Part and parcel of this movement is to provide a false and over-simplified revision to our history that demonizes people and trivializes their struggle to do the right thing. If we let this happen, it will impair our ability to make better decisions today and in the future.
I believe in merciless candor.
“Again, I say, the proper thing to do at that Confederate war memorial in South Carolina is to ADD the story of these nine murders in the church, and the families’ victim impact statements at the bail hearing.”
Have you lost your mind? Why not put the story of _fill_in_the_blank_ there as well? It would have just as much to do with the flag as that story.
The murderer is a sick twisted individual. Had nothing to do with the flag.
Correct.
The S.C. murders have much closer connections to Obama’s hate of Christians than the strained, made-up (non-existent) connections to the Northern War of Agression, in my opinion.
Snark Snark
Snark Snark in Obama’s fey voice!
Agreed. Only the political extortionists and their cowardly and dimwitted followers ascribe to the notion that the murders at the AME church had anything to do with that flag.
The tirades against the flag, Southern music, movies, performing arts, statuary and memorial obliques…anything referencing Confederacy, including historical societies has been raging for 30 years by NAACP and their ilk. Joining in the feeding frenzy this time were groups like “Black Lives Matter” and Eric Holder’s people, NBP party. These are the same people who lionize the likes of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, John Brown, Denmark Vesey (when will his statue be coming down?) and Nat Turner.
If Haley and the SC Assembly had any intellectual or moral turger, they would have countered the nonsense vigorously with the strongest rebuke. How shamelessly contemptible it was to exploit the 9 deaths for scoring political points.
*obelisks*…..statuary and obelisks
This gives us a new understanding of why the South seceded in the first place.
Of course, once all the offensive reminders of slavery have been banished to dusty closets in libraries and museums we will be accused of, dare I say it, whitewashing our terrible past.
This week I saw a news story on the web about a Road Rage incident in which a nice progressive young man pulled up next to a pickup truck which was flying the Confederate Flag, and reportedly the racist redneck occupants of the truck rolled down their window and asked “what are you looking at?” or some such thing to which the nice progressive guy replied something to the effect of “your flag is a racist symbol and I don’t like it.” The Road Rage incident ensued.
The irony of the whole thing was that in the news report in which the nice progressive young man was interviewed, you could plainly see that he had a Puerto Rico flag sticker on HIS car. Now, if we want to talk about the history of slavery, you can’t tell the complete story without understanding the role that Puerto Rico played in the slave trade and transport. And if you want to hear some nasty, racist talk in Spanish, just listen to some Puerto Ricans talk about other Hispanics.
But I suppose none of that really fits the narrative, does it?
These people WILL NOT STOP until people start saying “NO!” and KEEP saying it, and then blowing off their “racist, sexist, white-privilege, heteropatriarchical” bulls__t.
Nikki Haley really didn’t help things AT ALL. If anything, she threw gasoline on the fire.
Well.
Has the fleur de lis been used in living memory to symbolize keeping down the blacks, or otherwise oppress people?
If so, I’d like to hear the details.
If not, the progressives in this story should stop reading history; they’ll come across other symbols of old historical pain there, and they’re clearly not emotionally fit to deal with them. I’d say they should avoid religion too, but that’s a cure worse than the disease.
I lived in SC for 20+ years. The flag was moved (properly IMO) from flying over the statehouse to flying over a memorial a long time ago (15+ years?). It doesn’t bother me and it has nothing to do with the deaths of the murdered in Charleston. It’s just a political distractor, one I’m happy to see go. I like the flag, but I would not fly it on the statehouse grounds.
The racist democrats put that flag up over the capital as a protest against civil rights legislation. Time to take it down.
One might wonder if a nationwide Savannah Campaign is in our future.
It would be my honor to act on behalf of my ancestors and settle up the score with latter day representatives of ole Billy Sherman.
About the fleur-de-lis:
This article says that one of the things they would do an escaped slave was “crop their ears.”
That sounds like something taken straught out of the code of Hammurabi! Except that this was before the code of Hammurabi was rediscovered. Where did the idea come from? There must be a story here.
According to the Hertz Chmnash, the last article n the code of Hammurabi (Amraphel in Hebrew, at Gen: 14:1
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0114.htm
who was more famous at the time of Moses than the chief king in the days of Avraham) says that when a slave tries to escape his ear is bored.
And the first law in in tghe code of laws in Exodus
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0221.htm
is that if a slave wants to remain his ear gets bored.
This is, I think, what Moses meant when he said
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0504.htm
at Deuteronomy 4:6
that nations will say only a wise and understanding people could devise such laws.
Because there was this babylonian law that an escaped slave is not returned to his owner (even if maybe he does not go free)
But in the land of Israel:
Deuteronomy 15:16-17
Now you see, if an escaped slave ran from Babylonia to Eretz Israel and people went looking for him, while there l any person with an ear missing was an escaped slave – here it was someone who wanted to remain!
This is what Moses described as wise. Note, he did not say the nations would say you Israelites are crazy. If you wish to abolish slavery, abolish it. What is this about giving freedom only to slaves who escaped!!
Isn’t that unfair to all the slaves who didn’t escape?? Why should they get special privileges only because they broke the law? But no, they deserve it or need it more.
Well, maybe it’s time to dig a little deeper into the history of slavery. Like, where did the slaves come from and who enslaved them. The left/blacks/anti-America bloc uses racism and slavery as a club to beat current day Americans into political submission. I never owned a slave, nor did my ancestors. My people didn’t even arrive on US shores until after slavery stopped. So, to me, slavery in America is simply a historical fact. By the way, try asking a current day illegal immigrant what he thinks of the current day black man. You will get an earfulL and it won’t be pretty! I think it is time to ask Louis Farrakhan, the black power big mouths, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and the Obama’s to explain from whence the slaves came from. It wasn’t all, if any, white men supplying the slaves. It was black men in Africa doing the supplying.
“Tulane history professor Terence Fitzmorris said the fleur de lis has roots in the French the revolution and, similar to other symbols, was used as a mark of supremacy.”
This is a garbled view of history, even accounting for what might have been lost in the garbled syntax. The fleur-de-lys was widely used for many centuries before the revolution, not just as a royal symbol but also in municipal and provincial icons, and not only in France. Calling it a “mark of supremacy” is the kind of childish reductionism that is depressingly commonplace in academia today.
used for many centuries….
kind of like the swastika?
The Fleur de Lis was a symbol of freedom, courage and purity – haven’t you read the story of Joan of Arc?
If we honored the original symbolism of the swastika, people would be flying that flag everywhere.
The swastika has become widely associated with Nazism in the popular mind.
The fleur-de-lys is widely associated in the popular mind with many centuries of French history, with Sainte-Chapelle, with various municipal coats-of-arms, with elegant drapes and wallpaper, etc. It is not seen as a symbol of oppression by anyone except a small handful of academics whose stock-in-trade is perpetually cooking up new grievances from the scantest ingredients.
It isn’t a question of “original symbolism,” but of prevailing associations. “Superiority” and oppression are not what most people think of upon seeing the fleur-de-lys.
If we have to ban everything that has ever been used for some malign purpose, we might as well just ban everything right now and be done with it.
Wow, are you trying for the prize for mind-boggling idiocy?
It’s especially depressing when a professor of history is so wrong about history.
The fleur de lis is a royal emblem in France first used by the Frankish-Christian king Clovis who lived in the 5th century, so of course its use predates the French Revolution by more than a millennium.
As for it being “rooted in the revolution”, the fleur de lis was used on the monarchist flag. The symbol was anathema to the republicans and revolutionaries to such an extent that the symbol was proscribed by the National Convention and, even after revolutionary fervor had died away, Napoleon refused to adopt it as one of the emblems of his empire.
Another symbol that could be on the chopping block (if anybody noticed)
https://www.google.com/search?q=dime+back&biw=1264&bih=866&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=hQOgVZDwNNHSoASI8oP4DQ&ved=0CCQQsAQ
This was used by Mussolini, you know.
http://www.numismaticnews.net/flipside/our-fascist-dime
And it looks to me like it was continued from the Mercury dime onto the Roosevekt dime, or is that something different?
And isn’t is high time to get rid of Andrew Jackson from the $20 bill, and replace him with…
Emma Lazarus.
Blacks need to concentrate on CURRENT slavery – and the symbols and flags of Islamic African and Middle Eastern slaver nations: http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/259324/pulling-down-slaver-flags-islam-and-africa-daniel-greenfield
Louie Gohmert brought this up in the House: http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/259424/congressman-gohmert-reads-my-article-islamic-daniel-greenfield
The Fleur de Lis is the symbol of Joan of Arc, who allegedly saved France from tyranny. The symbol represents purity, courage and beauty. It is tragic that it was mis-used for evil purposes – but that doesn’t make the symbol bad.
These people need to get over themselves and look to the future. Many of them are enslaved to far more cruel and destructive masters – addictions are a form of bondage that take great courage and committment to overcome.
Alcohol, drugs, anger, violence, gambling, sex, food, power, attention/fame, cultish religious and political ideologies are among those that can rob a person of their freedom, prosperity and health.
BRAVO!
Maybe they have a point: Fleur de lis!
Whatever you desire…
Jeeeeeebus…
The slavers of 1700s France/Louisiana (in common with the WHOLE FLUCKING WORLD of the time) should have had the foresight to use the Anarchist symbol, and stick it to everybody!
Or maybe the Edsel logo…
would that be a microchip or perhaps a big 666 on their foreheads?
It reminds me of these health nuts that say some ingredient is bad, because it is used in carpet cleaner, or whatever. There was a popular article about “eight toxic foods” that was dismantled by this biochemist, pointing out that dosage and other ingredients in the mix have to be considered (duh).
That would apply to our symbols as well, as the piss Christ “artwork” shows symbols are often abused. The original usage is generally the most significant.
http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2013/06/21/eight_toxic_foods_a_little_chemical_education.php
Fleur de lis means flower of the lily, so we clearly must kill all lilies. And it is used by churches often as a sign of the trinity, so maybe that is why they really want it removed.
The Redskins now have their trademark delisted so they can’t retain the sole right to sell Redskin merchandise. I can’t imagine that being upheld by an honest SCOTUS, but this is the feel good Kennedy court, so who knows. It honored the redskins, and it took agitators to convince a vocal few that it was racist.
All this comes under the book burning Orwellian banner of the leftist/commie crusade against western civilization. The invading hordes are doing what conquering armies often do … destroying the symbols of the society, as ISIS is doing to Christians and their 1000 year old historical relics.
Any flag or symbol is or can be just like a gun in the minds of leftists. It represents evil and the fact that it is an inanimate object makes no difference. The Nazi swastika was and is still used by many native American tribes as a symbol of something to be proud of. God forbid that the moronic killer wasn’t wearing an American flag when he killed those nine people!
I refuse to believe that Leftists, Democrats, Progressives, et.al have minds. They’ve never been able to provide any proof of having minds.
We know where this is going. The final place in identifying signs and symbols of racism will simply be any white person. This idea already exists on campuses.
I think we are already there.
But, it won’t stop there, will it?
I commented to my wife last night that I felt that tattoos were next on the agenda by the left.
After all, tattoos show up well on a white person but can hardly be seen on a person of deep color.
Expect having a tattoo to be a form of white micro aggression. A white person showing a person of color their skin won’t allow them artistic expression.
She laughed, but I can tell you that I was being serious. I really expect it to happen.
The world has gone insane! The left will continue to make anything a white person does an act of racism. Even voting Democrat.
“As an African I find it painful …”
Ah, African? Not an American then? Well then,
get. out.
Seriously. Go back.
Get. Out. Now.
I’m sure they “as a human” find life very painful too.
Well Obama-Care’s got a cure for not liking their life…..
They keep removing things and symbols, and soon enough, they will start removing people.
A warning from History.
Make note of just who is creating this controversy.
From Senegal and West Africa to your Classroom
Ibrahima Seck
Senegalese Participant
Ibrahima Seck is a holder of a Doctorate degree in History and an assistant professor at the History department, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar. He has participated in many American Programs including whorkshops which he organized and led. Dr. Seck has additionally given lectures on the African diaspora at many different United States Universities including the University of New Orleans and the University of Mississippi. He has been awarded many fellowships from research organizations and programs including WARA/WARC, USIS, CODESRIA, and the Fulbright Foundation.
His research works and publications include but are not limited to “The Roots of the Blues Culture, a Documentary Video (work in progress)”, “the Illegal SlaveTrade between Saint Louis in Senegal, the West Indies and Louisiana in the 19th century”, “African Cultures and Slavery in the Lower Mississippi Valley, from Iberville to Jim Crow”, Holy Spring Blues, a video documentary on the life of and music of Junior Kimbrough”.
Dr. Seck is the incumbent Secretary general of the African Branch of the West African Research Association based in Dakar, Senegal. He is also the coordinator of the twinning between Gorée Island (Senegal) and Saint-Martinville (Louisiana).
His background led him to initiate the Bouki Blues Festival in Saint-Louis, Senegal, on January 2002. The second edition of this cultural event is scheduled for January 2005.
Just another “moderate muslim” no doubt who sees an opportunity to advance his faith through murana, meaning stealth jihad. And, of course, he’ll never bring up the fact that practitioners of his faith still practice slavery today.
Why is the Democrat party not banned? They were the party of the Battle Flag. They were the party of slavery. They were the party of the KKK, they were the party of Jim Crow, segregation and lynching. Bull Conner and his firhoses, Lestor maddox and Orville Faubus standing in the school house door were all Democrats. Why has the longest racist organization in history – the Democrat Party – not been banned?
What do you mean “next”? The Boy Scouts have been using the fleur de lis for over a century and have been SJW targets for a few decades now.
I won’t read this crap of an article after the first sentence. What an arrogant presumption!