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Glady. This flag was the original motto of the Continental Marines when they fought the British. It was a statement against the king, that has been since co-opted by the far right.
Merely wearing it does not make one hard right.
Some history follows.
1/ https://twitter.com/notcapnamerica/status/1318743479212740609
Merely wearing it does not make one hard right.
Some history follows.
1/ https://twitter.com/notcapnamerica/status/1318743479212740609
Ben Franklin is credited with using the timber rattlesnake as a protest against the crown. The practice of the time was sending British criminals to the colonies. Franklin suggested sending rattlesnakes back in return in his Pennsylvania Gazette, in 1751.
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In 1754 Franklin started using it as a symbol of colonial unity during during The French Indian War. Notice there's thirteen sections on the snake.
This is the 1st published American political cartoon, also in Franklin's Gazette, one of the inspirations for the 1st Amendment.
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This is the 1st published American political cartoon, also in Franklin's Gazette, one of the inspirations for the 1st Amendment.
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Because the timber rattlesnake was common in the colonies, and unique to the Americas, it was adopted as a symbol of our unity and ideals of the time, like the bald eagle.
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For anyone who's been paying attention to the far right for more than the last four years the Gadsden flag has long been co-opted by the militant right as a symbol of their resistance against restrictions on the 2nd Amendment, and our government in general.
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I refuse to let them pervert such honorable and storied history. Our national history is full of contradictions, as are all nations'. There are parts of it to be ashamed of, then and now, but the Gadsden flag is not one of them.
It's means unity, as does the Moultrie Flag.
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It's means unity, as does the Moultrie Flag.
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History matters, both good and bad. It's how we learn from our mistakes, it's our reference to the now. Symbols also matter and we cannot let good ones be tainted by bad people.
Nor can we judge other people at a glance: that's the way of the bigot.
#EPluribusUnum
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Nor can we judge other people at a glance: that's the way of the bigot.
#EPluribusUnum
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Appendix.
Further reading: https://www.hcn.org/issues/52.6/north-extremism-the-gadsden-flag-is-a-symbol-but-whose
Further reading: https://www.hcn.org/issues/52.6/north-extremism-the-gadsden-flag-is-a-symbol-but-whose
