#NoFlagginChallenge Encourages Forcible Confederate Flag Removal
By Lauren Briggs - Opposing Views
There is a new challenge on social media, and it is a sparking far more controversy than the Ice Bucket Challenge. The No Flaggin' Challenge campaign, shown in the video below, encourages people to film themselves tearing down Confederate flags, and it is getting ugly.
The original Facebook video, posted July 11, depicts a young man running up to a house and tearing down a Confederate flag. The driver, who filmed the flag removal, laughs while repeating “no flagging,” according to The Blaze.com
The police department in Sarasota, Florida, stated that they are aware of the video, which is considered evidence of theft, and they are communicating with other nearby police departments.
They are looking into the incident but “have not received any reports of a theft of a flag from a residence,” they posted on their official Facebook page. “Also, we do not know exactly where this video occurred & whether it was in our jurisdiction.”
Another Facebook video shows a man walking through traffic and tearing down two Confederate flags on the back of a pickup truck. The person filming laughs while saying “turn up” repeatedly.
"Will the #NoFlagginChallenge become the civil rights Ice Bucket Challenge?” asks one Twitter user, according to Blaze.com. “Spreading direct action against white supremacy.”
"I hate the ignorance in America today,” wrote another Twitter user. “The #noflagginchallenge has been the best challenge I've seen so far.”
In the heat of all the nationwide Confederate flag debates, this latest social media challenge is sparking further debate and bold statements on both sides.
Many social media users are outraged at this challenge and the fact that the police have not yet apprehended the flag removers. Facebook user Julie Youngblood Hohn expressed what appears to be a common sentiment on the Sarasota Police Department Facebook page: “Trespass on my property, thugs and see what happens.”
The challenge, which also goes by #DestroyConfederateFlag is going viral. An Instagram account even appears to be dedicated to posting videos of the challenge, with some incidents ending in violent altercations.
Ever since the white supremacist gunman who opened fire in a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, had pictures posing with a Confederate flag, debates on the flag’s purpose and history have raged throughout the nation.
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