This is hard to understand.
The community of Carrickfergus was in uproar this morning after a Nazi flag, bearing the provocative swastika symbol, was hoisted on a lamppost in Glenfield, County Antrim.
Nazi, Confederate & UDA flags flying 'proudly' at loyalist 12th bonfire in Carrickfergus today! #culture pic.twitter.com/y1bywbrCkP
— Short Strand (@Short_Strand) July 7, 2015
The inflammatory ensign ran just below a Union Jack flag, confirming the stupidity of those who would fly a Nazi flag alongside the flag of a nation who spent six years and countless lives to defeat the Nazis.
No group or individual has taken responsibility for raising the Nazi flag, but outraged members of the County Antrim housing estate took it upon themselves to remove it this morning.
Others have taken to Twitter to offer a full-throated condemnation of whoever is responsible for the deeply offensive acts.
https://twitter.com/JohnStewart1983/status/618678262424825856
Incendiary flags are currently visible around the Carrickfergus area in the tense lead up to the Orangeman’s Day celebrations on the 12th of July. Also visible in photos of the Nazi flag are the flags of the loyalist paramilitary group, the Red Hand Commando.
The racist, pro-slavery Confederate flag, which has recently been removed from stores and statehouses across America, also flies alongside the pro-unionist flags.
The presence of the Nazi flag was roundly condemned by Northern Irish politicians this morning; however, less was said of the Confederate and Red Hand Commando flags which continue to fly from the lampposts.
And a solitary Confederate flag still flies near the Glenfield bonfire site in Carrickfergus this morning. pic.twitter.com/oPmIxODVdI
— Arthur Strain (@Fronkenstrain) July 8, 2015
Many in America have contested the removal of the Confederate flag from government buildings, claiming it as essential to their American heritage. No such argument applies in Northern Ireland, suggesting that the sole message of the Confederate flag is intolerance.
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