A photo has surfaced of Stacey Abrams, Georgia’s Democrat candidate for governor, burning the state flag outside the Capitol building in 1992.
The New York Times revealed the photo in a report published the night before Abrams is set to debate her Republican opponent, current Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp.
The protest included torching the state flag whose design at that time incorporated the Confederate battle flag. The design was a hot-button issue in Georgia during that period, even swaying political elections for years to come.
The article at the time cited student protesters, Abrams among them, saying the Georgian flag “symbolizes a brutal time in the history of African-Americans.”
“Today we fight fire with fire,” one of the organizers shouted. “Burn, baby, burn!”
Photo emerges of Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia, *burning* Georgia’s state flag. https://t.co/1lyxD8n3sy pic.twitter.com/NnWUmMdocT
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) October 23, 2018
Abrams admits she burned the flag
Abrams defended taking part in the protest, saying the flag burning was a “permitted, peaceful protest against the Confederate emblem in the flag.”
Her campaign issued a statement on the controversy, explaining “Georgia was at a crossroads, struggling with how to overcome racially divisive issues, including symbols of the Confederacy, the sharpest of which was the inclusion of the Confederate emblem in the Georgia state flag.”
Protests like this one, she believes, involving “engaged students,” would lead to an “ultimately successful effort to change the flag.”
Abrams wants to erase other Civil War symbols
Abrams has made other Civil War and Confederate symbols a subject of her campaign, calling for the removal of the carving on Stone Mountain just outside Atlanta. Even some state Democrats have disagreed, arguing that the removal of Confederate symbols amounts to erasing history.
Abrams is a historic candidate, possibly representing the state’s first black woman governor, but her opponent says she may be “too extreme for Georgia.”
“We should learn from the past — not attempt to rewrite it,” Kemp said in defense of the Stone Mountain site.
Aside from simply erasing the past, Abrams provides some other extreme ideas for the state of Georgia.
- She wants Georgians to pay higher taxes, even saying it is necessary.
- She criticized the agricultural and hospitality industries, saying they weren’t worth working in as an employee.
- She wants President Trump impeached.
- She supports socialism.
BREAKING: Stacey Abrams says “Free Market Is Not the Solution” https://t.co/ibHYpL4fdC pic.twitter.com/0TVLhl1jUn
— The Resurgent (@resurgent) October 23, 2018
Illegal Immigrants will help the ‘blue wave’
Perhaps the most controversial of her statements, however, involved illegal immigrants taking part in the so-called ‘blue wave’ expected to sweep Democrats into office during the midterm elections.
“The thing of it is, the blue wave is African American,” she said at a campaign event. “It is white. It is Latino. It is Asian-Pacific Islander.”
“It is made up of those who’ve been told that they are not worthy of being here,” Abrams added. “It is comprised of those who are documented and undocumented.”
Trump has endorsed her opponent
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp will be a great governor. He has been successful at whatever he has done, and has prepared for this very difficult and complex job for many years. He has my Strong Endorsement. His opponent is totally unqualified. Would destroy a great state!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 20, 2018
