Profile picture
, 5 tweets, 1 min read
My Authors
Read all threads
The city of Birmingham is 74% Black.

The city of Birmingham was founded in 1871, it didn’t even *exist* during the Civil War.

There is no reason the city should be prevented from taking down its Confederate statues, but the state of Alabama is telling them that they can’t.
Just to follow up here, it's important to understand how deeply commemoration of the Confederacy shapes the iconography of Alabama. There are over 100 monuments and memorials to the Confederacy throughout the state, and that's a conservative estimate.
Alabama has three state holidays which commemorate the Confederacy:

There's Jefferson Davis Day, Confederate Memorial Day, and Robert E. Lee Day, which is celebrated the same say as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day...
There are Confederate monuments in *at least* 56 of the 67 counties in Alabama:

al.com/living/2017/08…
I mean, the Confederate flag is embedded within the state's coat of arms. The list could go on and on, but you get the picture.
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh.

Enjoying this thread?

Keep Current with Clint Smith

Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @ClintSmithIII see all

Profile picture
Clint Smith
@ClintSmithIII
Douglass on why he believed it was justified for enslaved people to rebel, and to use violence if necessary, against slaveholders. (via @ProfMSinha)
The relationship between Frederick Douglass & John Brown is one of the most fascinating in all of history, I think. Douglass deeply admired Brown & Brown shaped Douglass’ own evolving radicalism, but he also thought Harper’s Ferry was a huge mistake & refused to be a part of it.
Brief but good primer on John Brown & Frederick Douglass’ relationship by David Blight:

ap.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era…
Read 3 tweets
Profile picture
Clint Smith
@ClintSmithIII
It's fascinating to observe how many ppl justify the existence of billionaires based largely on a belief that they too might one day be a billionaire. It's not tied to any notion of fairness, but to an idea that one day they might also be able to exploit ppl for enormous wealth.
The insidiousness of our current system is that it convinces ppl they should oppose policies that might actually make their lives better, in part bc it is built to make them think that it's just a matter of time until they'll be able to be at the top of the system themselves.
Bernie's best line last night was when he said that Bloomberg had more wealth than 125 million Americans.

More money than one hundred and twenty five million people.

Think about that for a second. It's staggering, and insulting in a country predicated on notions of fairness.
Read 3 tweets
Profile picture
Clint Smith
@ClintSmithIII
“...in 1789, a dentist in Philadelphia made [George] Washington’s first set of total dentures from teeth that were ‘yanked from the heads of his slaves.’” phillytrib.com/commentary/mic…
Also...
And an update:
Read 3 tweets

Related threads

Profile picture
🏹 Armas Aallontie
@m39_respecter
Thread on Elias Simojoki (1899-1940) and clerical Fascism in Finland. 0/28
Finnish Nationalism was linked to Christianity since its inception. The standardization of Finnish language began after the Reformation and the Lutheran church taught the people to read the Bible in their own language. 1/28
In the 19th Century the status of the Finnish language improved further and a National identity began to form. Nationalists saw Christianity as the foundation of Finnish culture. Among some there was a belief that the Finnish people were chosen by God. 2/28
Read 29 tweets
Profile picture
Civil War Humor
@CivilWarHumor
During the Civil War, the term “coffee boiler” was derogatory slang for men who fled to the rear to make coffee whenever battle was imminent. (Today, we reserve the term for THAT GUY in the office, who bravely guards the break room whenever the auditors visit.) #NationalCoffeeDay
“They sneaked away from their regiments during battle, or while marching to battle, to rejoin them when on the march,” wrote Union private Frank Wilkeson. “They were always present when rations were issued. They were never present when cartridges were supplied.” #HowConvenient
Most of the coffee boilers were late-war substitutes and bounty-jumpers who collected their bonus for signing up -- and then deserted at the first chance. "To call a soldier of the Army of the Potomac a 'coffee-boiler' was an insult to be promptly resented," Wilkeson writes.
Read 6 tweets
Profile picture
Inflection Point
@Cobleone
Trump Pounces On Biden-Ukraine Scandal As Whistleblower Story Flips On Dems "

Once again Democratic projection of their crimes onto Trump turns into a complete and total disaster.
zerohedge.com/political/trum…
2. Biden's Auto Barn.

3. Biden's 'Zelensky Auto Parts', a Meme

Ukraine 'Whistle Blower' & long time CIA operative Susan M. Gordon worked the FBI/NABU Ukrainian Weapons order desk, entering Special Access Program arms & Nuke
Tech orders for shipments to Libya, Syria....&?
Read 64 tweets
Profile picture
Benjamin Franklin 🆘
@benFranklin2018
During the American Revolution, those who continued to support Great Britain came to be known as Loyalists, as opposed to Patriots, who supported the Revolution. Between 15 and 20 percent of the white population of the colonies, or about 500,000 people, were Loyalists.
Many motives animated Loyalists but perhaps the most common concern was that the widespread resistance to British regulations and taxes was descending into chaos and even anarchy, a threat to the status quo and its power structures. The Patriots really gave these guys the heater.
One Pennsylvania Loyalist, John Stevens, testified that Patriots dragged him “by a rope fixed about his neck” across the Susquehanna River. In Virginia, the planter Charles Lynch set up vigilante courts to punish Loyalists by whipping them. Others were tarred and feathered.
Read 13 tweets
Profile picture
Talen Lee
@Talen_Lee
#FlagThread

This next flag thread is CITY FLAGS OF AMERICA by STATE

Okay, so today we're not going to do the flag thread, because this one is _really huge_. Today, we're going to talk about how I'm going to do it, and what that means.
My normal resource for this is straight up looking at these things on wikipedia, and that's a great, useful resource but contributed by fans and enthusiasts.

It also presents a problem of scale.
Some states-and-territories have a tiny number of city flags; some have an ENORMOUS number. Obviously. I mean, Wyoming has two major cities! Some places that have like, more people than Iceland, have more cities!
Read 637 tweets
Profile picture
Amhara Fascist Crimes in Ethiopia
@Amhara_Fascism
During the civil war in #Ethiopia, the Marxist Mengistu regime --with the largest standing army in Africa-- used food as a weapon of war against Eritrean and Tigrayan rebels and their sympathizers. They waged a brutal starvation and bombing campaign against civilians for years.
The most characteristic feature of the war has been indiscriminate violence against civilians by the Ethiopian army and air force. The army deliberately killed and wounded tens of thousands of civilians and the air force bombed civilians and civilian targets. #Tigray #Eritrea
In both #Eritrea and #Tigray, aerial bombardment has caused massive loss of lives, property damage and displacement, and forced cross-border relief convoys to restrict movement to nighttime hours only. REST aid convoys and feeding centers were all targets of the bombing.
Read 5 tweets

Trending hashtags

#Asia #VenezuelaCoup #ElMundoEstaConVenezuela #Shoukry #US #Lechuguinos #AlvinAiley #Qamishli #BlackChangeAgents #EliotAbrams #EXCLUSIVE #AlNusra #border #dignity #French #Hmeymim #FromTheSouth #Italy #golpe #SaudiArabia #NDF #Hajjah #HYPOCRISY #British #orientalism

Embed code for your website

×
Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!