Revisionist Memory
These tweets from Yoni caught my eye this morning:
A year ago, only 33% of South Carolinians wanted the flag to come down—66% now glad it did, and 49% swear they opposed the flag all along.
— Yoni Appelbaum (@YAppelbaum) September 30, 2015
Among whites in SC, a scant 22% actually opposed the flag a year ago—but 35% now remember having opposed it: http://t.co/F7r9KypFkV
— Yoni Appelbaum (@YAppelbaum) September 30, 2015
This is how social change often unfolds. After it happens, it’s often inconceivable that anyone ever felt any differently.
— Yoni Appelbaum (@YAppelbaum) September 30, 2015
If you never read it, or want to reread in light of the new poll, here’s Ta-Nehisi’s piece from June calling for the removal of the Confederate flag in the wake of the Charleston shooting. And here’s a piece he did a few days later digging deep into the history of the flag. This new poll is a small but potent example of how hope wins over fatalism, something I wish Ta-Nehisi touched on more.
In other Confederate flag news:
Ben Carson says something depressingly stupid every single day. Here he is on the Confederate flag pic.twitter.com/5uI78EQ08K
— Elias Isquith (@eliasisquith) September 29, 2015
More on that controversy here. It’s not the first time Carson has sounded off on the symbol:
When South Carolina moved to remove the flag from its state Capitol grounds after a mass shooting at a black church, Carson shared his personal experiences. Carson recalled to CNN a time when a neighbor flew the flag “as a message to us” when Carson moved into a neighborhood in Maryland. “But the interesting thing is all the neighbors immediately put up American flags and shamed this individual, and he took it down,” Carson said.