You might not remember the name Bree Newsome, but that’s OK, because we do. She’s the woman who in 2015 scaled the flagpole on the South Carolina Capitol grounds and pulled down the Confederate flag that had been flying there.

She decisively dismissed the idea that the whole thing, which was recorded by an accomplice, was a publicity stunt, even thought it secured her interviews with CNN and CBS News, and TIME even published a piece calling her flagpole climb “an act of public art.”

She’s continued with her activism, but we hadn’t really seen a tweet of hers take off until yesterday when she posited the theory that since the 1950s, the word “Communist” was just coded language for the N-word. Perhaps she was reacting to Sen. Lindsey Graham, who referred to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her squad as “a bunch of communists.”

Since at least the 1950s, "communist" has become a popular coded word for nigger. Let's be real. — Bree Newsome Bass (@BreeNewsome) July 15, 2019

OK, let’s be real … starting now:

Weird. My parents had to defect from a country run by communists in the 1960s, and not one of them was black. Maybe they were imagining the whole thing. https://t.co/RcWm72KPdX — David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) July 16, 2019

This tweet is making me question my ability to recognise satire. https://t.co/g3aK3E79tK — Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) July 16, 2019

Your second sentence contradicts your first. https://t.co/Crr7G5CAzT — Steven Crowder (@scrowder) July 16, 2019

It's such a secret code, no one has heard of it. https://t.co/LXMncPT0da — Lawyer Dog (@TheClarksTale) July 16, 2019

Things that make you go "hmm…" https://t.co/llMWHg1QhY — neontaster (@neontaster) July 16, 2019

Someone is trying to get the opening night keynote slot of the 2020 Democratic Convention… https://t.co/c7UsWxIDJH — Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) July 16, 2019

WTF is she talking about? https://t.co/4TfBXOFqPA — Caffeine Queen (@Philly_Hoosier) July 16, 2019

“I’m not crazy!” she shrieked. https://t.co/WspVhBD2Gx — Collard Green Enthusiast (@IButtload) July 16, 2019

This would come as quite a shock to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg ? https://t.co/Fb436HGLmo — Persnickety (@Dawnsfire) July 16, 2019

Hey, Genius! Almost all communism was practiced in mostly white, European countries in the 50's. What has that to do with blacks? Do you have any sprains from those epic mental gymnastics? https://t.co/HbcMH0uqhR — Terry O' (@IrishTea1) July 16, 2019

Who can forget the dog whistle racism directed against the forces who crushed the Prague Spring in '68? https://t.co/J7efWPLplb — Mike Nelson (@mikenelson586) July 16, 2019

A take so hot, I can smell the fire through my phone. https://t.co/fCAwmrwYjc — Whatever (@DRussell76) July 16, 2019

Considering most of the commies I see on Twitter are dumb ass upper middle white class kids with no ambition or imagination, this couldn't be further from the truth. https://t.co/zBGJIa3bzN — Guy Faux (@Faux_Guy_) July 16, 2019

Why are you trying to co-opt the Communist label to play into your victimhood? JFC, not everything is about you. "Commie Pinkos" was not derived to degrade Black Americans in the 1950's, nor today. It's a term to degrade anti-Capitalists of all races. Asshonk. https://t.co/BRW9t0KVLk — #TrumpPence2020 (@PolarWhut) July 15, 2019

Learn to code https://t.co/gh9Jey4kvA — Heimish Conservative (@HeimishCon) July 16, 2019

OK, for those of you who just don’t get it, chew on this for a while:

Do people flipping out about this tweet have any awareness of the long history of white racists using the terms "communist" & "socialist" to refer to people who aren't actually either but are simply Black, like Obama??? LOL https://t.co/68BVmSgP7w — Bree Newsome Bass (@BreeNewsome) July 16, 2019

The long history dating all the way back to the Obama administration, which wanted to socialize health care? We’re convinced.

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