From a member of the Atlanta Revolution Club
Walking on the Flag Leads to a Shit Storm at a Georgia University
April 27, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Earlier this month a group of Black students at Valdosta State University in southern Georgia conducted a small demonstration on the school’s campus. The demonstrators walked on the U.S. flag as it lay on the ground next to a Bible and Quran to protest white supremacy.
News about the demonstration went viral when a video was posted to YouTube of Air Force veteran Michelle Manhart (the video was filmed by Manhart’s daughter) approaching the protesters and grabbing the flag. The students demand the flag back as a young Black woman holds onto one end of the flag while Manhart launches into a diatribe about how she needs to “properly dispose of the flag,” since it has touched the ground. Within moments, police that were already watching the demonstrators move in and order her to return the flag, after several minutes of arguing with the police and refusing to return the flag, one of the cops attempts to handcuff Manhart.
As she wrestles with the cops attempting to handcuff her, Manhart yells at the police, “Why are you not touching her? Why are you not touching her?” referring to the young Black woman whose flag she had stolen. She holds onto the flag throughout the struggle with the police. Eventually she is detained and released with a warning.
One of the onlookers commented during the scuffle, “If this was in the ’hood, you would have been shot by now!” Many commentators on Twitter and other social media noticed this obvious truth, as well. If Michelle Manhart had been Black, she would have been shot dead.
Consider this: Michelle Manhart’s actions have much in common with the justification the police and their racist mouthpieces in the media used to support the killing of Michael Brown. Right after Michael Brown’s murder became known about around the country, Ferguson police released surveillance camera footage of Michael Brown supposedly shoving a convenience store clerk and stealing a pack of cigars. (It must be noted that Ferguson’s chief of police admitted that Darren Wilson didn’t stop Mike Brown because he was suspected in a convenience-store robbery, but because he was “walking down the middle of the street blocking traffic.”) The right-wing racists jumped all over the surveillance footage admonishing Mike Brown as a “thug” who deserved what he got. The same dogs that can justify a death sentence for an unarmed Black man accused of petty theft and “charging” an officer, celebrate Michelle Manhart stealing the protesters’ flag and scuffling with the police.
After the video went viral, a number of right-wing blogs and Fox News exploded with celebration and interviews with Michelle Manhart. Pro-flag protesters in the thousands descended on the campus and classes were canceled. Comments on social media spewed with bigoted rants against the anti-white supremacy protesters, and particularly against Eric Sheppard. Several videos of Sheppard were posted on YouTube explaining his intention and debating with students over his group’s decision to walk on the flag. “That flag represents white supremacy racism which is plaguing the entire earth, so when we step on that flag we are stepping on racism, white supremacy... the flag represents lies, deceit, and things that were erected alongside our genocide and our holocaust,” he said.
Soon another video appeared with Sheppard, this time filmed by Fox. It shows Valdosta police approaching Eric Sheppard and a friend and accusing them of making threats against other students. Sheppard denies the accusation and tells the cops that they are threatening, “You are the ones standing here with guns,” he says. The cops release them.
Later that day an announcement is made that a backpack containing a handgun and two loaded magazines was found on campus. The police claim that they have evidence linking it to Eric Sheppard and issue a warrant for his arrest. At this time, Sheppard has avoided the police. (It is also worth noting, I will not go into detail here, that Valdosta police are accused of covering up the alleged murder of high school student, Kendrick Johnson.)
There is a lot of speculation, national chauvinism, and vile racist vitriol exploding around this incident. Without commenting on the ideological/political views of Eric Sheppard (about which there is a lot of speculation and distortion), we should look at a few basic facts: 1. Eric Sheppard and the other Black students walking on the flag were not breaking the law. 2. Michelle Manhart confronted the students and stole their flag and refused to return it. 3. Michelle Manhart resisted arrest, an offense that few people of color can imagine walking away from with a warning, let alone their life. 4. The indignation expressed by the thousands of pro-flag protesters flocking to Valdosta in defense of a red, white, and blue rag on the ground is shameful when juxtaposed against their indifference to the unarmed Black bodies that lie on the ground wounded by the police every day in this country.
STOP THINKING LIKE AMERICANS AND START THINKING ABOUT HUMANITY!
Volunteers Needed... for revcom.us and Revolution
If you like this article, subscribe, donate to and sustain Revolution newspaper.