A TikTok user has documented herself burning the Confederate flag after learning about its history and modern-day use.
@TikTok_hates_me__ shared the clip on June 6, writing "I'm sorry I ever showed I was 'racist' from a flag. We burnt it tonight. I'm sorry our culture taught us this was okay, it's not. I'm white. I'm redneck, but never racist. RIP to this racist flag."
The footage shows the TikTok user setting fire to the flag on her porch, before adding it to a bonfire in later videos.
What is commonly referred to today as the Confederate flag was actually the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. It was first used during the American Civil War, and is now often used as a symbol of southern heritage. However, it has been employed by numerous hate groups, including white supremacists.
According to the TikTok user, she doesn't support the flag because of its use by various groups who oppose civil rights, especially those of Black people.
"I don't really remember being taught about it in school. It wasn't like 'this is the flag,' or 'this is what it means,' it wasn't that. I don't remember ever learning about it in school. In the south, everybody flies their flags, so it was more like, 'well everybody else is doing it so that's something that we should do,' that's really it," she explained in a follow-up video.
"For us, in this house personally, it was just a popular thing around here, like you go to the grocery store and there's someone sitting in the parking lot selling confederate flags and American flags, and guess it looks cool or it looked cool. That's really all. That's why you see people all the time on TikTok saying, 'it's just about culture'. In the south, it's just normal," she added.
In response to a comment claiming, "they won't like this," the TikTok user defended people who unknowingly support the flag, saying: "This is the comment I hate the most. 'They' are the people that I love the most. We're doing one step at a time around here. It's pretty much starting with me. We literally had one of our dearest friends sitting behind us, screaming, jokingly of course, 'don't burn my flag'."
"It wasn't his flag but something that he genuinely loves, and we did it anyway. So, 'they', those people that y'all think are getting so mad. They think that we're stupid for changing our ways, because they don't see it as racism, because they don't understand, because they don't know better," she continued.
In just three days, the original video has gained over 200,000 likes and one million views.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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