Now the POW/MIA Flag Is Under Fire as a Symbol of Racist Hate

An opinion piece decrying the POW/MIA flag as “racist” has sparked sharp backlash online.

The Washington Spectator published columnist Rick Perlstein’s piece “The Story of the Other Racist Flag” on Monday. It was later republished by Newsweek.

“You know that racist flag?” Perlstein writes. “The one that supposedly honors history but actually spreads a pernicious myth? And is useful only to venal right-wing politicians who wish to exploit hatred by calling it heritage? It’s past time to pull it down”. . .

These excerpts from the piece outline his argument:

“Richard Nixon invented the cult of the ‘POW/MIA’ in order to justify the carnage in Vietnam in a way that rendered the United States as its sole victim.

“Downed pilots whose bodies were not recovered…had once been classified ‘Killed in Action/Body Unrecovered.’ During the Nixon years, the Pentagon moved them into a newly invented ‘Missing in Action’ column. That proved convenient, for, after years of playing down the existence of American prisoners in Vietnam, in 1969, the new president suddenly decided to play them up.

@JessieJaneDuff @Newsweek @Al_Baldasaro Yes Rick Perlstein please explain how POW/MIA flag "racist". Then, explain how you lost your mind

— Dan Tamburello (@GO_Tambo) August 12, 2015

This is absolutely disgusting #Newsweek. Now the #POW flag is a symbol of hatred? Have you no shame? Repudiate this. https://t.co/84JS3QwQks

— Mike (@mesaazmj) August 12, 2015

(Read more from “Now the POW/MIA Flag Is Under Fire, as a Symbol of Racist Hate” HERE)

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