received and transmitted by Conflict MN

A number of American flags liberated from the neighborhood found themselves burnt to ashes on the 4th of July. This was a small gesture of solidarity to all those in struggle against domination. America, as any system of exploitation, cannot be reformed, only obliterated.

Nevertheless, this constitutes nothing but a symbolic gesture. Burning the flag does not burn white supremacy, it does not burn the myriad of oppressive systems that so many of us see clearly in the stars and stripes. Much of the country has their attention drawn to the outcry over the use of confederate logos and other symbols that represent this oppression. While it is worth noting how deeply embedded white supremacy is in the history of the United States, we must set our sights on the material, not the symbolic.