Thread by @LunaOi_VN

🧵THREAD🧵

Dialectical materialism demands we seek a COMPREHENSIVE and HISTORICAL perspective. This means understanding the DEVELOPMENT of internal and external relations which compose ALL THINGS. Case in point, photos like this of Black Panthers organizing with Young Patriots:

It has been used by some USA leftists to claim that Fred Hampton would have "hated me" for sharing my personal feelings of the USA flag, based on my childhood growing up in extreme poverty from USA embargoes and many members of my family and village being victims of USA genocide.

That image is literally a snapshot, which shows one stage in development which occurred over half a century ago. The Young Patriots organization knew, even early on, that the confederate flag would alienate many black people and even covered it up around them.

Also worth noting they felt the USA flag "wouldn't start much of a conversation," which American Patriot Socialists conveniently never mention in their analysis.

Over time, as the Young Patriots developed through working with the Black Panthers, they ended up dropping the Confederate Flag, realizing it was a symbol of oppression and bourgeois interests.

So, we can see that the Young Patriots developed over time through external relations (working with black revolutionists) and negating internal contradictions (getting rid of white supremacist members and dropping the confederate flag). And this all took place decades ago.

Our understanding of intersections between secondary contradictions which keep the working class divided have evolved a lot since the 1960s, and many marginalized people have contributed to this understanding. We can learn from the 60s but only by seeking historical perspective.

The fact is, the genocides of the USA far outnumber the victim count of Nazi Germany, many of the victims communists, with 2 million innocent civilians killed in Vietnam (+ millions more killed by Agent Orange to this day), 1 million murdered in Indonesia with CIA aid, etc.

When I share my experiences and feelings with the flag, it's only to give my perspective as one of the USA bourgeois state's victims. Hundreds of other victims (including USA citizens) have since shared with me similar feelings and experiences.

I can't force anyone to stop using the USA flag and jingoism, I can only offer my perspective and encourage people to examine the DEVELOPMENT of groups like the Young Patriots, to ask why they dropped symbols like the Confederate Flag after working with victims of slavery.

As a victim of USA genocide, I can only say that the flag is indistinguishable from a Nazi swastika for me, and I'm definitely not alone. I can imagine descendents of enslaved people feel the same about the Confederate flag, which led to the development of the Young Patriots.

Anyway, I just felt this was worth sharing, since it seems only part of the story about the Young Patriots is being shared. Here is the full interview with Hy Thurman, one of the founders of the Young Patriots:

redneckrevolt.org/single-post/20…