What’s Driving Miss Haley?

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley wrote an op-ed article in the Washington Post that appeared in the December 11th edition defending her prior response(s) to the confederate flag. For those of you who have not been paying attention, though it would be hard not have heard at least some degree of minimal detail about the controversy that erupted when the ex-South Carolina governor made what many critics viewed as misguided (I would argue, inaccurate) defense of what the flag represents in addition to giving a not so subtle shout out to the flag’s supporters

Indeed, Ms. Haley is still on the offensive, going so far as to argue that the current political climate would prohibit its removal. While she informs readers that she does not agree with those who deny that the confederate flag represents racism, she, nonetheless, still respects their point of view. Yes, you read that correctly!

Although she believes that the flag is a symbol of racism, she is sympathetic to those that disagree (in some cases, vehemently so) with such an assumption. Upon reading this, my initial reaction was huh?!

Seriously, Miss Haley? How can you simultaneously be for and against racism?! Taking such a position is not that much different from when President Trump referred to White Supremacists and anti-racist activists as “very fine people.” The latter group is commendable. The first group is anything but!

Taking such a “stance” (if you want to call it that), is classic political doublespeak. It is also a cowardly example of intellectual dishonesty. Any genuinely woke person is astute to the fact that racism is one of, if not the most pernicious vices known to mankind. It is a retrograde factor that has been deeply embedded in the fabric of our nation.

It’s searing and oppressive impact has/had a profoundly negative experience on numerous people of color. It is systemic, systematic, subtle, brutal, blatant, violent, sophisticated, pathetic, deceptive, arrogant, abominable among other deplorable things as well. This should go without saying.

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One heartwarming example of resistance to the public display of the confederate flag (at least to me) occurred earlier this year in suburban Atlanta when a Black woman, furiously irate, and rightly so at the sight of directly witnessing a repairman drive up to her home with an ample sized version of the flag hanging in the back of his pickup truck.

Upon seeing him exit his vehicle and approach her and her apparent husband, she informs him in no uncertain terms that his services will not be utilized at her residence. Moreover, she kept it polite, direct and real, further telling the man in question “thank you, have a nice day.” Seemingly flustered, the man jumps back into his truck and takes off.

Upon seeing this video my response was Hello! Bingo! Jackpot! Touchdown! BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO! Period! I could not have handled the situation any better myself! Truth be told, I might have been tempted to go Django Unchained on his socially inept self!

As I see it, no self-respecting person of color, in particular, a Black person, is going to grant anyone who is so brazen in their embrace of a flag that represents such disrespect to their ancestors’ permission into their home. You can count me among such people.

Although she is a member of the republican party, the fact is that Nikki Haley is still a person of color. She is the child of Indian immigrants. Moreover, her real name is Nimrata Randhawa.

Thus, it is perplexing (at least to me and I am sure to some other people) that as a non-White person, Haley so fiercely embraces a symbol that (at least from a cultural perspective) denounces, demonizes, disregards and disrespects, virtually all, if not everything she represents?!

Indeed, what would prompt her to engage in such embarrassing antics? Self-hatred? Political expediency? A burning desire to be president? Some other motives? What gives? Indeed, what is psychologically driving Miss Haley? Inquiring, socially conscious minds want to know!

To be sure, no group of people, that includes non-White people are monolithic. In fact, there are indeed people of color who are conservative in their political affiliation. That being said, the fact is that even those individuals of racial minority groups (at least a notable percentage of them) are likely to be very apprehensive, if not outright resistant, in lending their vocal support to a flag that symbolizes searing levels of denigration, degradation, dehumanization and other scurrilous forms of humiliation.

Let’s just tell it like it is! The truth is that any reasonable person, regardless of race, should be astute to the fact that there is nothing redemptive about the confederate flag. It is a symbol of hate, terror, pain, violence, oppression, suppression, repression, blood, war and distress just to name a few maladies. There is nothing admirable about its sinister and rapacious history.

There is nothing ambiguous about its message. No amount of perverse denial or disingenuous revisionist history desperately promoted by some of the rabid, unhinged, political, social and cultural rights can or will alter this unalterable fact. Period! Deep down, something tells me that Nikki Haley and many other of her right-wing co-horts know this fact to be the real truth.

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This post was previously published on Medium.com and is republished here with permission from the author.