Killer Mike on Confederate Flag: "You Do Not Fly the Flag of Losers Over the Winners' Country"

Killer Mike has spoken out about the Confederate flag, which has been the subject of intense debate over the last week. Following the shootings in Charleston, South Carolina, several states that fly the Confederate flag in some official capacity have pledged to either take it down, or open a legislative discussion about doing so.

In a new piece on The Fader, Killer Mike said he doesn't begrudge any individual who wears the flag, but that it should be removed from government property. "That side lost, and you do not fly the flags of losers over the winners' country," he said. "It's just that simple. There's no way around that."

He continued:

If your great great grandfather participated on the Confederate side and you hold some sentimental value to that, and you want to fly the flag and hang their picture up in your home, that's fine. But it should not be on anything that taxpayers pay for, because taxpayers are a part of the Union not the Confederacy. It has no place in the building, no place on the building, no place around the building.

He talked about growing up in the South, where the flag is commonplace:

Many of my neighbors have them. As a Southerner, I understand how it represents our heritage and lives lost in that war. I'll give you that at the negotiation table. But my firm stance is that any group of traitors, anyone who tried to break up this country, deserves no honor once they've lost.

Did the people who lost that war profit from slavery? Yes! Has that symbol been used by stupid, dumb redneck racists? Yes. Has it been used by neo-Nazis? Yes. Has it been used as a way to intimidate black people? Yes, absolutely. As a child, the Confederate flag was explained to me as a flag of racism, that there are often men who will use that flag to try to terrorize black people. 

Mike also stressed that his objections to the flag don't have to do with his feelings:

My primary objection to it is firmly grounded in a political argument, not an emotional one. It's less to do about me—"Hey, I'm black and it hurts my feelings, it's a symbol of slavery and oppression"—and more to do with the fact that, as an American, I will not honor a group of treacherous traitors. That's why I despise the rebel flag. Long live the South, and quickly die the Confederacy.

Read the whole piece here.

via Jeremy Gordon