Virginia Republican Compares Politicians Removing Confederate Monuments to ISIS

Minnesota, now Virginia Republican Corey Stewart, who running for Governor of Virginia has raised a lot of eyebrows with his blatant appeal to racists, a tweet in defense of Confederate monuments:

Yes. Wannabe Yankee governor of Virginia attacks Yankees for attacking Confederate monuments. The Yankee is trying so hard to be a Southerner. And if you bring up the matter of his origins, Stewart says you’re a “snowflake.”

Once upon a time, some of my ancestors included, Minnesotans served against the South and slavery. And Stewart did not stop there. He upped the ante by comparing those removing Confederate monuments to ISIS:

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Bless his heart. He promises to “fight and protect Virginia’s Heritage and History!” but the heritage in question is one of slavery.

He claims their removal is “the blatant destruction of U.S. history,” but those monuments, because they celebrate the Confederate cause, are monuments to slavery, to racism, to genocide. They are monuments to a rebellion against the United States.

Some have argued that Confederate monuments should at least have plaques putting them in a much-needed context. Stewart’s claim requires no less.

If you’re still in any doubt as to what, exactly, these monuments stand for, look no further than this:

Singer John Legend had a question for Stewart:

Crime novelist Laura Lippman was happy to explain the whole thing to Stewart:

Stewart’s claims carefully avoid the historical facts. It is past time Stewart and other defenders of the defeated Confederacy recognize the cause they embrace when they defend the Confederacy’s flag and the monuments is the cause of slavery.

Corey Stewart’s claims are made more reprehensible by the fact that so many of those “Southerners” he claims to represent are descendants of the very people that Confederate cause fought to enslave.

Hrafnkell Haraldsson

Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.