La. In his new campaign ad, Senate candidate Gary Chambers burns the Confederate flag
Gary Chambers and his famous lighter are back.
A long-standing community activist, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate was in hot news last month after a campaign video showed him smoking a blunt while advocating legalization.
The latest ad is also a talker. Chambers is seen burning a Confederate flag in the spot, which is titled “Scars and Bars.” He discusses — and symbolically destroys — Jim Crow’s legacy.
Chambers holds an American flag, quoting it and then replaces it with a Confederate one. He remarks that remnants of it still linger in many parts of the South. Chambers says that the right to vote and participate as democracy in Black America is being attacked. He also refers to gerrymandered areas as “a byproduct” of the Confederacy.
He says, “Our system isn’t broken,” and sets the flag ablaze. It’s designed to produce measurable inequity.
According to the Daily Advertiser, the ad’s publication coincides with the ongoing special session of the state legislature to redraw its political lines. Activists are campaigning for the expansion of majority-Black districts.
According to WWNO, a member station in New Orleans, lawmakers have until February 20 to redraw the state’s congressional districts.
The public is urging lawmakers to draw more Black congressional districts. Census data shows that nearly one-third of the state population identify as Black. However, only one of six state congressional districts has a majority-minority population.
A second majority-Black congressional district would likely mean the loss of a safe Republican spot in Congress. WWNO points this out as a difficult sell for the GOP-led legislature.
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Chambers, as he watches his flag burn, notes the high levels of poverty and disenfranchisement in Black Americans.
He says, “It’s now to burn whatever remains of the Confederacy.” “I believe that the South will rise again. But this time, it will be on our terms.”
Chambers will face a difficult task in his attempt to succeed U.S. Senator John Kennedy, the 70-year old Republican incumbent, as the junior senator of Louisiana. These short clips can help increase visibility. His marijuana video has been viewed millions of times and received considerable media attention.
Although viral campaign ads are not new in substance, they employ tactics that political campaigns have relied on for decades.
