Jon Stewart: It's weird we kept a symbol commemorating a pro-slavery secessionist army

The Daily Show's Jon Stewart seems ecstatic that the Confederate flag is coming down in Southern states.

"The horrible attack in South Carolina seems to have caused a national reexamination of some of the more visible Southern symbols honoring that time that they fought, uh … us," Stewart said. "It's actually part of our new segment: 'Huh, I guess it is pretty fucking weird that we fly a flag in honor of a pro-slavery secessionist army.'"

The Daily Show/Comedy Central

"Taking down the flag only 150 years after the South surrendered and 20 years after NASCAR did it," Stewart added. "Congratulations!"

"It is becoming harder and harder to find public figures who aren't suddenly on board with at least considering ditching this archaic symbol of racist insurrection. Harder, but not impossible."

The Daily Show/Comedy Central

Stewart pointed to one Republican state senator who compared removing the flag to "a Stalinist purge."

"Removing a flag would not really be Stalinist purge style," Stewart countered. "Stalin, what would he do? He'd probably keep the flag, but whitewash it of its associations with slavery and secession, and then concoct some bizarre narrative about, 'Actually, it just represents something lovable and positive — the kind of thing you just slap on a shirt or the back a truck.' And then he'd say this dual meaning would justify not just keeping it, but elevating it, honoring it. Fortunately, Americans wouldn't fall for such Stalinist…"

The Daily Show/Comedy Central

Watch: The Charleston shooting is part of a long history of anti-black racism

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via