This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/19/charleston-shootings-the-apartheid-era-flags-that-have-found-new-life-with-americas-racists

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Charleston shootings: the apartheid era flags that have found new life with America's racists Charleston shootings: the apartheid era flags that have found new life with America's racists
(about 7 hours later)
When the old orange, white and blue national flag that came to symbolise apartheid South Africa was hauled down for the last time from official buildings in April 1994 as the country held its first free election, the defunct banner immediately became a symbol of white resistance.When the old orange, white and blue national flag that came to symbolise apartheid South Africa was hauled down for the last time from official buildings in April 1994 as the country held its first free election, the defunct banner immediately became a symbol of white resistance.
For a while the flag made appearances at rugby matches in the hands of Afrikaners unhappy at the collapse of the world as they knew it and continued to hang in the offices of political groups which maintained a futile struggle to reinstate racial segregation.For a while the flag made appearances at rugby matches in the hands of Afrikaners unhappy at the collapse of the world as they knew it and continued to hang in the offices of political groups which maintained a futile struggle to reinstate racial segregation.
But within a few years it became an embarrassment as even those who once voted for apartheid governments sought to distance themselves from a shameful past.But within a few years it became an embarrassment as even those who once voted for apartheid governments sought to distance themselves from a shameful past.
Now the flag has found new life with America’s white supremacists alongside the green and white one of the short-lived republic of Rhodesia, another former racist state to South Africa’s north.Now the flag has found new life with America’s white supremacists alongside the green and white one of the short-lived republic of Rhodesia, another former racist state to South Africa’s north.
Dylann Roof, the man accused of the Charleston church massacre, is seen wearing both on his jacket in a photo on his Facebook page.Dylann Roof, the man accused of the Charleston church massacre, is seen wearing both on his jacket in a photo on his Facebook page.
The two flags have become popular among groups such as the Aryan Nation, which have embraced a myth of the genocide of whites in southern Africa pushed by South Africans unhappy with their country’s liberation from racist domination.The two flags have become popular among groups such as the Aryan Nation, which have embraced a myth of the genocide of whites in southern Africa pushed by South Africans unhappy with their country’s liberation from racist domination.
Related: Charleston killings leave US reckoning with race and guns amid 'broken peace' Related: Charleston shooting suspect Dylann Roof 'wanted to ignite civil war'
The Anti-Defamation League lists the old South African flag in its database of hate symbols.The Anti-Defamation League lists the old South African flag in its database of hate symbols.
The old South African flag was used for two decades before formal apartheid began in 1948. It was introduced as an alternative to the British flag a few years after the two Afrikaner republics defeated by Britain in the Boer war and former British colonies were forged into the Union of South Africa.The old South African flag was used for two decades before formal apartheid began in 1948. It was introduced as an alternative to the British flag a few years after the two Afrikaner republics defeated by Britain in the Boer war and former British colonies were forged into the Union of South Africa.
But as the world’s revulsion at the brutality of apartheid grew, so the flag became inextricably tied to the system of racial segregation.But as the world’s revulsion at the brutality of apartheid grew, so the flag became inextricably tied to the system of racial segregation.
It was sported by the armoured vehicles sent in to black townships to violently put down popular protests for racial equality.It was sported by the armoured vehicles sent in to black townships to violently put down popular protests for racial equality.
It flew over the prisons and police stations where black activists were tortured and murdered. And the country’s political leaders faced it as they sang a national anthem that exalted white settlers.It flew over the prisons and police stations where black activists were tortured and murdered. And the country’s political leaders faced it as they sang a national anthem that exalted white settlers.
But that history, and with it the old flag, has largely been pushed aside by a minority of unhappy whites to paint themselves as the victims today.But that history, and with it the old flag, has largely been pushed aside by a minority of unhappy whites to paint themselves as the victims today.
They cast affirmative action in government jobs and education to give more opportunity to the black majority, in an attempt to offset the imbalance of apartheid, as anti-white discrimination.They cast affirmative action in government jobs and education to give more opportunity to the black majority, in an attempt to offset the imbalance of apartheid, as anti-white discrimination.
Most victims of rampant violent crime are black but attacks on white South Africans are more likely to get press coverage and to top up the fear levels in neighbourhoods where some see crime as a war on whites. But it was the murders of white farmers in rural South Africa in particular that stoked the talk of a “genocide” of white people.Most victims of rampant violent crime are black but attacks on white South Africans are more likely to get press coverage and to top up the fear levels in neighbourhoods where some see crime as a war on whites. But it was the murders of white farmers in rural South Africa in particular that stoked the talk of a “genocide” of white people.
That idea has been carried to the US and happily embraced by white supremacists looking for any justification to portray their cause as moral.That idea has been carried to the US and happily embraced by white supremacists looking for any justification to portray their cause as moral.
They feel no shame for the crimes of apartheid and so have no embarrassment about sporting the old South African flag or that of the former republic of Rhodesia, which existed for just 15 years after its white minority leaders unilaterally declared independence from Britain in 1965 rather than be decolonised under a government run by the black majority.They feel no shame for the crimes of apartheid and so have no embarrassment about sporting the old South African flag or that of the former republic of Rhodesia, which existed for just 15 years after its white minority leaders unilaterally declared independence from Britain in 1965 rather than be decolonised under a government run by the black majority.
The genocide myth has been given added life by the bloody seizure of white farms in the former Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, by the president, Robert Mugabe.The genocide myth has been given added life by the bloody seizure of white farms in the former Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, by the president, Robert Mugabe.
The white regime that ran Rhodesia until 1979 was as brutal in its attempt to stave off black political equality as the apartheid government in South Africa. That history has largely been forgotten amid the violence of recent years in Zimbabwe.The white regime that ran Rhodesia until 1979 was as brutal in its attempt to stave off black political equality as the apartheid government in South Africa. That history has largely been forgotten amid the violence of recent years in Zimbabwe.
It was mostly directed against Mugabe’s black political opponents, but the killings and attacks on white farmers grabbed international headlines and shaped a myth that drove a young white man thousands of miles away and born long after Rhodesia died to sew its flag on to his jacket alongside the old South African banner as a perverse symbol of resistance.It was mostly directed against Mugabe’s black political opponents, but the killings and attacks on white farmers grabbed international headlines and shaped a myth that drove a young white man thousands of miles away and born long after Rhodesia died to sew its flag on to his jacket alongside the old South African banner as a perverse symbol of resistance.