SFC: Taking A Stand Against Hate

As evidenced by the state of the US, there are still ongoing racial tensions and age-old hatreds that the dinosaurs simply can't let go. The fact that we still need programs like Affirmative Action here indicate that there's still a problem, and there's still the dinosaurs who still think a black man is two-thirds a man (or less) or somehow less qualified or intelligent based solely on their ethnicity.

A lingering symbol of white supremacy is the Confederate Battle Flag, the flag held aloft as Southern states seceded from the United States over slavery. Many died in the ensuing civil war, and I cannot envision a greater reason to shed American blood than for the purpose of spreading freedom and equality. In my estimation, aside from self-defense, there really is no justifiable cause to die for. Freedom is in man's heart, irrespective of their nationality, ethnicity, or background. People yearn for it. And yet, even today some states still fly this flag over their statehouses and public buildings. It's just a little bit sickening to me.

Several states' courts, such as Louisiana, have ruled that the flag is, in fact, offensive and have ordered these flags removed from public buildings. I am all in favor of freedom of expression, as you can surely imagine, but in the case of imagery, one must weigh the use of the image against the impact that it can have on people, as well as the reasons for displaying it. In the case of the Rebel Flag, it is almost universally abused by racist organizations for the sole purpose of inciting racial hatreds.  There are few legitimate purposes for the display of this emblem, in my opinion, and the bar with which to display it is set very high due to its inherent nature.

A few months ago, in a heated discussion (read: dust-up) over the new game, Tomorrow, which is all about trying to save the planet from overpopulation, I noticed that a user had proudly displayed his Rebel Flag microbadge. I was surprised that such an emblem would be so causally displayed, especially with a "Thought Criminal" icon as his avatar. In any event, I was given a couple months off in the form of "user moderation" for being a little bit disruptive and pointing out some things that made people uncomfortable. I know, shocker.

Shortly thereafter, I contacted the admins about removing the micro-badge, because it doesn't represent "Southern Rock" as much as "Redneck Racist Values", despite Lynyrd Skynard using it as a backdrop for years. In fact, in 2012, Skynyrd dropped the use of the Confederate Battle Flag specifically because it recognized that it had been appropriated by racist factions and wanted no part of it. When the guys who popularized its use take a step back and realize that it was harming people, there's just no real argument to be made that it's valid anymore.

So, after two months of back and forth, I was sent the following by the admin responsible for microbadges:

Badge is now unpurchaseable, and the creator has been contacted to update the image.

superflypete wrote:

Hey there,

I was looking for the discussion of the Southern Rock microbadge, but all I could find was this: http://boardgamegeek.com/article/11000473#11000473
...where you recognized that the Confederate Battle Flag might be offensive.

I still stand by the fact that it's an egregious double standard to have a moratorium on Swastikas (which, incidentally, some US troops used to wear before the Nazis began its use) but none on the Southern Rock Microbadge.

The Louisiana Supreme Court just found the flag to be insensitive and offensive a few years ago. This isn't some "sidebar", this is a real issue. I'm dead serious about the idea that you're literally defending 5 people's "right" to own a racist flag on their profile. And you just approved a Red "X" for 'No More Slavery' not too long ago. I mean, seriously, does that seem right to you?

That microbadge needs to go, and Confederate flags need to be removed. I know that more white people play games than black, I know this is a pocket issue for a lot of white people who don't know what the big deal is (or look at it as a way to push their racism).

I implore you to reconsider.

http://archive.adl.org/hate_symbols/racist_confederate_flag....

http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2011/09/14/louisiana-high-cour...

cscottk wrote:

Thanks. I will be considering this soon. I am just back from holidays, and I expect I may bring this to the microbadge community for discussion in the Microbadge boxing ring.

skippen

superflypete wrote:

Hey there,
Scott "Skelebone" sent over something about that Confed battle flag issue, where I formally requested that it be removed.

In the microbadge thread, you noted that "even a portion of a Nazi swastika is dicey".(*) I'd like you to consider that a swastika is as offensive to Jews as the rebel battle flag is to blacks.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/8969616#8969616(*)

There are plenty of other insignias that someone can use for southern rock; musical notes, a pic of Skynyrd or something. It doesn't have to be that.

I thank the admins at BoardGameGeek for taking this issue seriously, and most especially "skelebone" and "cscottk" for understanding that this wasn't just me being a dick, as usual, but a much more important issue.

In short, there's now one more place where people can't hide behind a racist symbol.