- ‘Ride with Pride’ event was held in Tampa Bay, Florida, on Friday with at least 300 attendees
- They claimed symbol was celebration of Southern heritage and distinct from history of racism and oppression
- Symbol has been removed from State capitols since
- Confederate enthusiast Dylann Roof killed nine in Charleston
- President Obama condemned the flag Friday as ‘a reminder of systemic oppression and racial subjugation’
(Daily Mail) – Confederate flags have been falling across the United States since the racist church massacre in Charleston, South Carolina, sparked a national outcry over the symbol.
But in Tampa Bay, Florida, the battle flag of the rebel South was out in force Friday night at a ‘Ride With Pride’ event attended by hundreds who wore and flew the controversial symbol.
On pick-up trucks, choppers, t-shirts and even inked onto demonstrators’ skin, the distinctive flag was repeated hundreds of times alongside combative slogans like ‘try burning this, asshole’ and ‘come and take it’.
Confederate rally: A group of at least 300 people in Tampa Bay, Florida, went on a rally waving hundreds of controversial Confederate battle flags
Combative: Fans of the rebel banner stuck flags on their vehicles and wore defiant t-shirts, such as the one pictured above. Confederate flags have been taken down across the United States since Confederate enthusiast Dylann Roof massacred nine people in Charleston
‘Heritage’: Those who went on the rally said they were trying to commemorate their cultural heritage and not flame racial tensions
Powerful opponents: Lawmakers in southern states including Alabama and South Carolina have decided to remove the flag from state government buildings
Marchers in the ride, which featured some 300 cars, said that the aim was to celebrate southern heritage and show pride in their homeland.
One, Lexy Webb, told local news station WTSP: ‘It shows about the Civil War, that we lost, Southern states we lost, it leaves us with the pride we have in the South’.
Flying the flag has become especially controversial in recent weeks since a cache of photographs emerged showing killer Dylann Roof posing with the flag and visiting Confederate landmarks.
Roof, who gunned down nine black people after a Bible study group at the Emanuel AME church in Charleston, also wrote admiringly of the rebel states’ slave-owning culture.
The flag has since been removed from the state capitol in Alabama, and legislators in South Carolina are in the process of removing it from these capitol as well.
In a eulogy Friday for one of the victims of the Charleston killings, President Obama called the flag ‘a reminder of systemic oppression and racial subjugation’.
Roped in: This dog was also part of the Dixieland celebration, which came on the same day as President Obama condemned the flag
Rebels without applause: The Confederate battle banner was used sporadically during the Civil War, but has become and enduring symbol of the rebel South
Keep truckin’: Zachery Campbell, above, is pictured posing in his pickup truck with a large Confederate flag
Dedication: Campbell, pictured above, showed off a Confederate tattoo, alongside crossed pistols, during the ride
Supporter: Dennis Leasure, dressed in biker gear, is pictured above before the rally started, with his pet dog, Dixie Poo
Gun rights: This southern driver’s flag also displayed his enthusiasm for firearms
Differentiation: Some of the attendees spoke about how the flag should not symbolize racism and oppression, but innocuously celebrate the South
‘Redneck girl’: Destiny Mooneyham, 18, is pictured above with Dennis Wiles, before the ‘Ride for Pride’ event
Ready to roll: This biker adorned his Harley Davidson with a confederate flag before heading out with some 300 other vehicles
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3141339/Hundreds-rally-Confederate-Pride-parade-displaying-controversial-battle-flag-amid-national-outcry-Civil-War-symbol.html
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