Obama Greeted By Confederate Flag Waving Protesters In Oklahoma City
Confederate Flag waving protesters greeted President Barack Obama during his recent trip to Oklahoma City, Okla.
The crowd converged upon Obama’s hotel just days after the president applauded the decision to remove the Confederate Flag from the South Carolina statehouse.
The Confederate Flag ban protest organizer, Andrew Duncomb, told local NBC News affiliate, KFOR, that he did not see the Civil War era flag as a symbol of racism. Duncomb refers to himself as “the black rebel.” Several other African-American men were also among Duncomb’s group.
“They’re blaming the racist problems on the flag and not on the real problems of America. Through the race lies the people who carry and harbor the hate inside,” Duncomb said.
The Oklahoma City Obama protest was not the first time the president has been met with waving Confederate Flags as he jets around the country. During a visit to Nashville in June, a similar scene was waiting for the president upon his arrival. During the flag debate after the Charleston church shootings Obama said that the emblem “belongs in a museum” and said that removing the Confederate Flag was not about political correctness but was an acknowledgement that “the cause of slavery was wrong.”
The scene as President Obama’s motorcade arrived at his hotel in Oklahoma City tonight. Photo by @dougmillsnyt pic.twitter.com/L7e9TCrOPQ
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 16, 2015
President Obama was in Oklahoma City to tout a new internet access plan which he said would enhance economic opportunities for low- income Americans and to tour a federal prison and speak with convicts. Obama is the first sitting president to visit a federal prison.
“In this digital age, when you can apply for a job, take a course, pay your bills… with a tap of your phone, the Internet is not a luxury. It’s a necessity,” Obama said when stating why taxpayer-funded USDA grants should be used to provide internet access.
[Image via: Twitter]
