--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The America that clings to Confederate…" description: "\"The America that clings to Confederate statues and flags, and that jealously guards the social privileges white Americans have long enjoyed, form the s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc0/joy-reid-6005_america_the-america-that-clings-to-confederate-s_828166.jpg" --- # The America that clings to Confederate statues and flags… ![“The America that clings to Confederate statues and flags, and that jealously guards the social privileges white Americans have long enjoyed, form the stalwarts of Trump's base.” quote by Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc0/joy-reid-6005_america_the-america-that-clings-to-confederate-s_828166.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc0/joy-reid-6005_america_the-america-that-clings-to-confederate-s_828166.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc0/joy-reid-6005_america_the-america-that-clings-to-confederate-s_828166.jpg) > “The America that clings to Confederate statues and flags, and that jealously guards the social privileges white Americans have long enjoyed, form the stalwarts of Trump's base.” [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. White Americans' desire to protect historic symbols fuels Trump's support. **In simple terms:** Preserving symbols fuels political loyalty. Key Takeaway Question the cost of clinging to symbols. Themes politics history identity Mood critical analytical Type political social commentary When to use this quote - political campaigns - public debates - education curricula Key Concepts cultural heritage racial dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What alternatives could replace these symbols? - How can societies reconcile history with progress? A Different Perspective May simplify complex motivations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Flags](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flags/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) ## Related quotes > [Confederate statues belong in a historical museum, not in a place of honor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nelson/confederate-statues-belong-in-a-historical-museum-not-in-a-place-of/) [Bill Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nelson/) > [I'm not going to waste my time worrying about these Confederate statues. That's wasted energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-barkley/i-m-not-going-to-waste-my-time-worrying-about-these-confederate/) [Charles Barkley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-barkley/) > [ People in the media often tend to assume it's like Trump and \[Ted\] Cruz fighting over the same voters but when you look at… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hayes/people-in-the-media-often-tend-to-assume-it-s-like-trump-and-ted-cruz/) [Chris Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hayes/) > [The Democrats do not have their key agenda items do not have massive public support, and their attempts to destroy Donald Trump have failed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/the-democrats-do-not-have-their-key-agenda-items-do-not-have-massive/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [The data - on issues and on Trump himself - keep pointing back to 'one-in-four' as the true size of Trump's base. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-soltis-anderson/the-data-on-issues-and-on-trump-himself-keep-pointing-back-to-one-in/) [Kristen Soltis Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-soltis-anderson/) > [We had the story in the Politico, they've done their market research or focus groups. None of this stuff, the Russian collusion, none of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/we-had-the-story-in-the-politico-they-ve-done-their-market-research/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [There are people who think that Trump's base was created by Steve Bannon - they are Alt-Right white nationalists and so forth - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/there-are-people-who-think-that-trump-s-base-was-created-by-steve/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [I am not saying Russia is not important, but Trump's base is very well defended against that: 'the liberal media is out to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/i-am-not-saying-russia-is-not-important-but-trump-s-base-is-very-well/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [All Trump has are the people that voted for him as a support group. He doesn't have the media. He doesn't have a community…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/all-trump-has-are-the-people-that-voted-for-him-as-a-support-group-he/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [“When Hillary Clinton called out identifiable groups at every rally, declaring that she would “stand up” for each of them, it was too tepid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/when-hillary-clinton-called-out-identifiable-groups-at-every-rally/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [“Indeed, the protesters who believed they were seeing the company’s relationship with Trump in political terms were actually seeing this in conventional brand terms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/indeed-the-protesters-who-believed-they-were-seeing-the-company-s/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [Trump base is solid, and there's nothing the media can do to break it. There's not a single thing they can do. They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/trump-base-is-solid-and-there-s-nothing-the-media-can-do-to-break-it/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [The Negro loves America enough to criticize her fundamentally. Most white Americans simply can't be bothered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-oliver-killens/the-negro-loves-america-enough-to-criticize-her-fundamentally-most/) [John Oliver Killens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-oliver-killens/) > [There's no question that O.J. Simpson had been a substitute white man in America. He had gained honorary white status. He was not viewed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/there-s-no-question-that-o-j-simpson-had-been-a-substitute-white-man/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [Most white Americans only discovered the blues with the British invasion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronnie-wood/most-white-americans-only-discovered-the-blues-with-the-british/) [Ronnie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronnie-wood/) ## More by Joy Reid > [Trump is reviled around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/trump-is-reviled-around-the-world/) [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) > [What White America and Black America wanted and expected from Obama were fundamentally different and opposite things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/what-white-america-and-black-america-wanted-and-expected-from-obama/) [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) > [If Obama was fundamentally different from prior presidents, Trump seems to violate every tenet of what Americans have long sought as our national image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/if-obama-was-fundamentally-different-from-prior-presidents-trump/) [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) > [In many ways, Trump is both a boon and a bane to Republicans. His insanity and moral decrepitude keep the country focused on things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/in-many-ways-trump-is-both-a-boon-and-a-bane-to-republicans-his/) [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) > [To be white in America is to assume, with total self-confidence and little afterthought, the personal ownership of public spaces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/to-be-white-in-america-is-to-assume-with-total-self-confidence-and/) [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) > [Dwight Eisenhower presented a face of America that was heroic and resolute; Ronald Reagan represented a return to confidence and glamour after the weary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/dwight-eisenhower-presented-a-face-of-america-that-was-heroic-and/) [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) > [Trump's affinity for Russia dates back at least to the late 1980s, during the time of the Soviet Union, and it intensified after his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/trump-s-affinity-for-russia-dates-back-at-least-to-the-late-1980s/) [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) > [Trump's more outre economic ideas, like repealing trade bills and implementing a massive surcharge on imports, would seem like non-starters in a Republican-led House…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/trump-s-more-outre-economic-ideas-like-repealing-trade-bills-and/) [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) > [Too great a love for the presidency has caused Democrats to neglect state and local politics and to overly prize compromise and a futile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/too-great-a-love-for-the-presidency-has-caused-democrats-to-neglect/) [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) > [Bill Clinton had a hell of a first 24 months, even though he, like Trump, enjoyed a congressional majority. Scandal after scandal befell the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/bill-clinton-had-a-hell-of-a-first-24-months-even-though-he-like/) [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) > [Whether on guns, race, culture or feminism, there really are two Americas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/whether-on-guns-race-culture-or-feminism-there-really-are-two-americas/) [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) > [The sharp differences between the way city dwellers and rural, suburban and exurban residents vote, think and live cannot be papered over by federal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/the-sharp-differences-between-the-way-city-dwellers-and-rural/) [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) > [Even without the euphoria of 'yes we can,' Hillary Clinton is to white women what Barack Obama was to African-Americans. She represents the opportunity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/even-without-the-euphoria-of-yes-we-can-hillary-clinton-is-to-white/) [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) > [If you've never feared the police - if you don't get a dull ache in the pit of your stomach when you see red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/if-you-ve-never-feared-the-police-if-you-don-t-get-a-dull-ache-in-the/) [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) > [Republicans don't vote Republican because of Nancy Pelosi. They vote Republican because they are Republicans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/republicans-don-t-vote-republican-because-of-nancy-pelosi-they-vote/) [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) [Explore all 100 Joy Reid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [America is a democracy and has no Hitler, but I am afraid for her future; there are hard times ahead for the American people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/america-is-a-democracy-and-has-no-hitler-but-i-am-afraid-for-her/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I'm gonna bring America together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-gonna-bring-america-together/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. Remember, under a Trump administration it's called America first. Remember that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-need-a-system-that-serves-our-needs-not-the-needs-of-others/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [You live overseas, you see these exotic places and you want to know about them. But, weirdly, it also made me homesick for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-jennings/you-live-overseas-you-see-these-exotic-places-and-you-want-to-know/) [Ken Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-jennings/) > [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. It's AIDS, it's herpes, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/freedom-in-every-sense-but-primarily-political-sense-a-rise-in/) [Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/) > [“In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/in-american-terms-the-accomplishment-of-genghis-khan-might-be/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) [Browse all 20,382 America quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The America that clings to Confederate statues and flags, and that jealously guards the social privileges white Americans have long enjoyed, form the stalwarts of Trump's base.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joy Reid" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/the-america-that-clings-to-confederate-statues-and-flags-and-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "America" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/the-america-that-clings-to-confederate-statues-and-flags-and-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc0/joy-reid-6005_america_the-america-that-clings-to-confederate-s_828166.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc0/joy-reid-6005_america_the-america-that-clings-to-confederate-s_828166.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc0/joy-reid-6005_america_the-america-that-clings-to-confederate-s_828166.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The America that clings to Confederate statues and flags, and that jealously guards the social privileges…” — Joy Reid", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Joy Reid", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The America that clings to Confederate...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/the-america-that-clings-to-confederate-statues-and-flags-and-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/the-america-that-clings-to-confederate-statues-and-flags-and-that/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```