Confederate Flag, Mason-Dixon Line In Dormitory Sparks Protests At Bryn Mawr University
The Confederate flag and the Mason Dixon line are two symbols which intentionally provoke controversy when embraced publicly. For the record, the last time the South tried to ‘rise,’ it was burnt to the ground.
[su_center_ad]Two Bryn Mawr college students in Pennsylvania took it upon themselves to tack a Confederate flag outside their dorm room, and taking it a step further, they taped a Mason-Dixon line on their carpet. After Pennsylvania abolished slavery, the Mason-Dixon line served as a line of distinction for the legality of slavery.
Students are protesting against racial discrimination.
Our friends at Liberal America report:
After the dorm president asked the girls for the flag to be taken down, they created with tape a line on their floor meant to represent the Mason-Dixon line. Following a second request from the hall’s dorm team for the flag to be removed, the girls placed it inside their room, where it was clearly visible from outside their window. Following the event, there was a rapid response from the student body.
The dean of the college sent out an email addressing the issue. The flag and symbol of demarcation are now removed.
Breaking news: This happened in ‘post-racial America.’
“There is no way anyone can claim we live in a post-racial society, especially when campuses like Bryn Mawr, that pride themselves on being progressive, do not know how to properly handle the situation,” Rina Patel, a first year student at Bryn Mawr said. “It’s extremely disheartening for the people of color at Bryn Mawr that it took this long to get the administration to take it seriously. This demonstration is definitely not the end of this. We hope to continue the conversation and ensure that Bryn Mawr is a safe place for all.”
Watch:
According to an anonymous source, the flag is merely a symbol of Southern pride and they said it was shocking to see people react negatively to it.
Why not use their real names if they’re so proud?
Tiffany Willis has a more detailed report here.[su_csky_ad]
R.J. Carter September 27th, 2014 at 12:55 pm
The message: Keep your thoughts, opinions, and beliefs to yourself. Closeted, so to speak, because that’s a good place to be when “society at large” doesn’t accept you.
Anomaly 100 September 27th, 2014 at 12:58 pm
Not at all, but if a person publicizes an unpopular opinion which ostracizes others, they can expect a backlash because free speech works both ways.
R.J. Carter September 27th, 2014 at 12:59 pm
They can certainly expect the backlash. In this case, the backlash was “STFU and take down your stupid symbol.” Which seems contrary to our ideals of freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas.
Anomaly 100 September 27th, 2014 at 1:05 pm
OK, if neo-nazis/white supremacists marched in your town and your neighbors protested, would you feel the demonstrators were being stifled?
R.J. Carter September 27th, 2014 at 1:07 pm
Nope. But if the neighbors went to city hall ahead of time and filed a petition to have the police in the streets to prevent the march, turning the neo nazis back to their homes and denying them the opportunity to march, then I would.
Anomaly 100 September 27th, 2014 at 1:10 pm
A motion was not filed in this case. The students protested, which in itself is a great American tradition. The two college girls/women who did this did so intentionally knowing full well it would spark controversy. Mission accomplished.
M D Reese September 27th, 2014 at 1:26 pm
That’s my take on it, too.
M D Reese September 27th, 2014 at 1:25 pm
They spoke, others let them know what they thought of their “speech”.
R.J. Carter September 27th, 2014 at 1:31 pm
So by letting them know what they thought of their speech, we validate the muzzling as equal and valid free speech?
Larry Schmitt September 27th, 2014 at 6:34 pm
Would you feel the same about a swastika?
R.J. Carter September 28th, 2014 at 11:43 am
Yes.
arc99 September 27th, 2014 at 1:00 pm
as someone who sees little difference between the historical implications of the Confederate stars and bars or the Nazi swastika, it is entirely appropriate that there are some things which society at large does not accept.
R.J. Carter September 27th, 2014 at 1:02 pm
And society at large doesn’t have to accept it. But stifling and muzzling goes beyond non-acceptance, it creates the appearance of persecution, which only serves to give some sort of backhanded credence to an idea.
Imagine if the flag and line had been allowed to stay, and everybody instead just shook their head and laughed.
arc99 September 27th, 2014 at 1:04 pm
I presume you would extend the same courtesy of free exchange of ideas to those who would advocate repeal of laws against pedophilia and hang in their dorm room posters showing computer-generated images of 40 year old men having sex with 4 year old girls?
where is the line? is there no idea which can be unilaterally rejected as unfit for participation in the free exchange of ideas?
if that is your view, I can respect that. my beef is with people who complain about “political correctness” but yell louder than anyone else when their sensibilities are offended.
R.J. Carter September 27th, 2014 at 1:06 pm
The line is “What have we declared to be illegal in our laws and what have we not.” Your analogy is one of apples to bicycles, reaching for an extreme example and then trying to equate the other to it. The image of a man having sex with a child is not the same as the image of two intersecting blue lines on a red field.
arc99 September 27th, 2014 at 1:17 pm
advocating for repeal of a law is not illegal. my analogy is red apples to green apples. computer-generated artwork is not illegal. exercising a first amendment right to express a decidedly unpopular view is not illegal.
so we do indeed run into that conundrum. what is truly offensive and should be barred from public discourse? what constitutes unnecessary deference to “political correctness”?
I say neither the Confederate paraphernalia nor the hypothetical advocacy for repeal of pedophilia laws have any place on the Bryn Mawr campus. I see no consistent objective standard for banning one form of legal expression, but not another.
mea_mark September 27th, 2014 at 1:50 pm
To you it isn’t but not to everyone. People have different levels at which they take offense.
R.J. Carter September 27th, 2014 at 2:01 pm
So then, do we have to continue banning, barring, eliminating, and hiding speech and symbols until we get to the lowest common denominator of inoffensiveness?
mea_mark September 27th, 2014 at 2:05 pm
No, just enough to quell the din. There is a time and place for everything. Some places should be peaceful and quite and others should be allowed to be noisy and argumentative so people can express their differences and work out resolutions.
R.J. Carter September 27th, 2014 at 2:13 pm
The problem arises with who gets to be the arbiter of those times and places.
mea_mark September 27th, 2014 at 2:40 pm
That is America, for better or for worse.
mea_mark September 27th, 2014 at 1:43 pm
The school is private property and they can dictate certain terms to prevent abuse. If the students don’t like those terms, they should find another school that accepts their abusive behavior.
NW10 September 27th, 2014 at 1:44 pm
On the contrary, you can be as bigoted as you want to be, but you will be held accountable for it. Donald Sterling found that out the hard way.
In short this rule applies: if you can’t say anything nice, then keep your mouth shut.
R.J. Carter September 27th, 2014 at 1:51 pm
Well, that would effectively shut down every political Disqus board across the Internet, wouldn’t it?
(If the NSA had been the one to capture and release Sterling’s comments, would it still be okay?)
R J September 27th, 2014 at 1:24 pm
They live on campus,and as such the administration has the right to tell them to take the flag down.
R.J. Carter September 27th, 2014 at 1:33 pm
Now there’s the valid argument, so long as the flag and its symbols are codified in campus/dormitory covenants.
whatthe46 September 27th, 2014 at 5:21 pm
what do you want to bet, those idiots don’t even know.
M D Reese September 27th, 2014 at 1:26 pm
I’m really sick of the old “the confederate flag is a symbol of southern pride”. Bullshit.
Abby Normal September 27th, 2014 at 1:31 pm
Exactly. Revisionists have been telling us the Civil War was about “states rights” for the past 149 years. The war was about slavery – pure and simple. If any “states right” was involved it was the right to own other human beings, beat them and make them spend their lives as slaves. The Confederate battle flag belongs on the ash heap of history along with the Nazi swastika.
R.J. Carter September 27th, 2014 at 1:32 pm
So that those symbols and the meaning behind them can be forgotten.
Because forgetting history does something-or-other.
Abby Normal September 27th, 2014 at 1:38 pm
No, the meaning behind the Nazi and Confederate battle flags should never be forgotten. We need to admit our mistakes and strive to improve life for everyone. The vast majority of Germans have come to terms with their nation’s vile past. Most Germans would not be caught dead displaying a Nazi flag – they’re repulsed by the sight of it. I believe most Southerners feel the same about the Confederate battle flag. Those who continue to admire it and display it do so at their own risk – and that risk is being marginalized by the rest of society.
R.J. Carter September 27th, 2014 at 1:52 pm
Exactly! Thanks for reinforcing my point.
Marginalized — not given opportunity to cry martydom.
crc3 September 27th, 2014 at 6:53 pm
Amen. I was born in SC way back when and want nothing to do with that bigoted red neck behavior…
jasperjava September 27th, 2014 at 1:53 pm
It’s precisely because these symbols and what they represent is NOT forgotten, that we refuse to see them proudly displayed.
R.J. Carter September 27th, 2014 at 2:02 pm
That… makes no sense whatsoever. “So that we never forget what these things mean, we won’t let them be seen.”
jasperjava September 27th, 2014 at 2:07 pm
Of course that makes sense. The fact that we would not allow Nazi swastikas to festoon the streets unchallenged shows the deep revulsion we have against that symbol.
The confederate flag deserves the same treatment.
R.J. Carter September 27th, 2014 at 2:13 pm
Ah, but I didn’t say it shouldn’t go “unchallenged.” Challenge doesn’t equal removal.
M D Reese September 27th, 2014 at 2:38 pm
Well stated.
KABoink_after_wingnut_hacker September 27th, 2014 at 6:48 pm
Why in the world would anyone want to display a symbol of losers, ignorant bigots and traitors anyway?
Do I need to emphasise the word LOSERS!
M D Reese September 27th, 2014 at 8:56 pm
Not to mention that they’ve been dragging us down financially and socially ever since–and whining about it the whole way.
R.J. Carter September 28th, 2014 at 11:42 am
The more you emphasize the word LOSERS the more you embolden those behind it to strengthen their beliefs. If the South ever does try to rise again, it will be partly because it’s roots have been strengthened by constantly resisting forced change, rather than having been allowed to atrophy from public apathy.
M D Reese September 27th, 2014 at 8:55 pm
The best place to see them is in the history books under “really really bad things that happened”.
M D Reese September 27th, 2014 at 2:42 pm
No–we remember it all too well. That is why that treasonous flag is objected to and torn down whenever possible.
M D Reese September 27th, 2014 at 2:41 pm
My sentiments exactly. I see that those proud southerners are rewriting the history books to erase slavery entirely. Now, slaves will be called “indentured servants”. Doesn’t that sound all warm and fuzzy?
m2old4bs September 27th, 2014 at 5:48 pm
Well, the only problem with that is that there is a huge difference between a slave and an indentured servant. The former could never attain free status through his own labor while the latter could. There are other differences as well. Yeah, I know you know all this already. 🙂
M D Reese September 27th, 2014 at 8:53 pm
It’s incredibly sad–and offensive. I was encouraged by the school kids in Colorado (Ithink it was CO) who went out on strike over the dumbing down of their education.
Teddy Simon September 27th, 2014 at 1:32 pm
It is all in how one perceives things , Just 40 years ago the Black Panthers were a sign of hatred to wards the whites , yet today they show there flags or symbols and no one says a word , The American flag was flown by the federal troops when they slaughtered 10’s of thousands of Indians yet no one says a word , believe what you want but not everyone that flies the Confederate flag does it as a sign of hate
Anomaly 100 September 27th, 2014 at 1:34 pm
I do not like the Black Panthers, so I don’t get your point at all.
arc99 September 27th, 2014 at 1:50 pm
The swastika symbol is thousands of years old. It too was once nothing more than an expression of cultural pride until the Nazis adopted it.
Whether hatred is in the heart of someone flying the stars and bars is not my concern. They can do what they want on their own property but not in a public place.
mea_mark September 27th, 2014 at 1:59 pm
Or as it may be in this case, on property that belongs to someone else, the university.
juicyfruityyy September 27th, 2014 at 2:28 pm
i guess those pointed white hats and sheets; are also a symbol of pride?
Teddy Simon September 27th, 2014 at 2:59 pm
Did I say it was ?? no
Teddy Simon September 28th, 2014 at 2:05 pm
Oh so a few use it for that you want to group everyone in that same category , wouldn’t that be like racial profiling .
juicyfruityyy September 28th, 2014 at 3:46 pm
I didn’t group them. They labelled themselves.
Teddy Simon September 28th, 2014 at 4:14 pm
No YOU labelled them
juicyfruityyy September 29th, 2014 at 1:22 am
I gave them the label KKK?
Teddy Simon September 29th, 2014 at 11:45 am
See your saying everyone that flies the flag is KKK , well guess what I am one quarter Indian and the American flag stands for murderers , how about that and everyone that flies it is a murderer , see I can do it too
whatthe46 September 27th, 2014 at 5:17 pm
black panthers never hid who they were. and they were not a sign of “hatred towards whites.” why don’t you read your history. the NBB are a different breed of black panthers, just so you know.
Teddy Simon September 28th, 2014 at 2:04 pm
And so are the southern people flying the Confederate Flag , Just because a few idiots want to fly it for their beliefs you want to group everyone in that same category JUST SO YOU KNOW
Ronald Woolever September 28th, 2014 at 12:47 pm
You appear here to be a bigot who is also a coward. You may not be, but that sure as hell is how you come across. I’m sure there are those that think it’s just cool to fly a flag that offends so many yet aren’t in their hearts they are not bigots, but the vast majority do so because they have convinced themselves that they indeed won that war. What a shame that these peoples minds are so small they have no room in there for truth.
Now that I reread your post I have found a few other factual errors. For instance there really isn’t a connection between the old Black Panther Party and those calling themselves the black panthers today. More importantly the Black Panther Party was trying to reflect the hatred they were receiving from the white community. The perception of them hating all whites is a little off. At least as far off as your belief that not all confederate flag wavers are bigots. As far as I know the Black Panther Party has long been disbanded and I have never seen their(not there)flag, but I guarantee you that if anyone is flying a symbol of black hatred towards whites it would be all over the media. I would like to think you are just ignorant and need to relearn history, but I suspect you really are just another bigot.
Teddy Simon September 28th, 2014 at 2:01 pm
Well guess what the people that flew the confederate flag during the civil war are not the same ones flying it today , those people died a long time ago , You come off as an idiot although you may not be .You should read your own comment , NOT THE SAME PEOPLE .
NW10 September 27th, 2014 at 1:43 pm
But but but racism doesn’t exist anymore, because Chief Justice Roberts said so and we have a black President, so THERE!!!
juicyfruityyy September 27th, 2014 at 2:37 pm
The hatred has come to surface. A hatred that was always there and never went away.
whatthe46 September 27th, 2014 at 5:13 pm
“Why not use their real names if they’re so proud?” because they are fk’n cowards.
Jeffrey Ritchie October 15th, 2014 at 5:17 pm
They claim to be “surprised” that somebody took it the wrong way? Expel them both. If they’re that stupid and clueless, they have no chance of graduating. Be a shame to take their tuition money.