Country artist Luke Combs is the latest to run into the buzzsaw of The Woke Police.
Social media’s Wonky Wokers blasted Combs, who had a global No.1 selling album in 2020, for the sin of previously having a Confederate flag sticker on his guitar and, worse, for performing in Ryan Upchurch’s video “Can I Get a Outlaw” standing in front of a Confederate flag.
The 2015 music video has had more than 73 million views with no complaints about the rebel flag—until this current volcanic eruption of woke lava, spewing hatred for anything that offends their snowflake sensibilities.
The problem with wokers is that they slept through history class. As Michael Savage has said, they don’t know the difference between tortellini, fettuccine, and Mussolini. If they did, they wouldn’t cherry pick their targets with such gleeful ignorance.
Clearly they aren’t aware that Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Rolling Stones, Ted Nugent, Alabama—along with a slew of other bands, used the Confederate flag as a stage prop, or in promo photos and memorabilia. To these artists, the rebel flag wasn’t a racist proclamation—it was a symbol of Southern identity and regional pride. Charlie Daniels put it this way:
“The Confederate battle flag was a sign of defiance, a sign of pride, a declaration of a geographical area that you were proud to be from. That’s all it is to me . . . I know in my heart that most Southerners feel the same way.”
Associated Press, 1971.
The Woke Police judges Luke Combs for his past choices, but will they also hose former Democratic President Jimmy Carter who, as Governor of Georgia, had both the American flag and the Confederate flag flanking his desk in the Governor’s office? Will they require the editors of TIME magazine (May 31, 1971) for featuring Carter against the backdrop of Confederate and American flags to apologize?
Will they ask Sesame Street to repent for featuring Johnny Cash and the Muppets dancing and singing “Ghostriders in the Sky” in front of the Confederate flag on the Disney Channel? Maybe Big Bird needs to do an Apology Tour. Just saying. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander—or the Big Bird as the case may be.
Combs has since apologized saying, “As I've grown in my time as an artist, and as the world has changed drastically in the last five to seven years, I am now aware how painful that image can be. I would never want to be associated with something that brings so much hurt to someone else."
Okay . . . so . . . what will Combs do when the Woke Police take offense at the sight of the American flag on his jacket, shirt, or shoes? Oh wait, Nike already pulled the Betsy Ross flag from their shoes because former footballer Colin Kaepernick was offended by it.
If Luke Combs et al must apologize for their past association with the rebel flag, then by all means the members of the Woke Gestapo, specifically those who drink Coca-Cola products, should be required to publicly apologize for their blatant hypocrisy.
What’s that you say?
If these intolerant, cancel-culture vultures knew their history, they’d know that John Stith Pemberton was a biochemist and the inventor of Coca-Cola. They’d also know he served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Confederate Army. His final resting place is marked by a gravestone bearing a Confederate flag.
Arguably, by drinking a Coke, the Wokes are perpetuating the legacy of someone who not only stood in front of a Confederate flag strumming a guitar, but put his life on the line fighting for the Confederacy. We can’t have that now, can we?
Maybe Wokes should pay reparations—they should be forced to switch from Coke to Pepsi.
To be clear, I am not a fan of that historical symbol. Nor am I suggesting that the aforementioned companies and artists should be sanctioned over the rebel flag. In a free society, I can respectfully agree to disagree with my neighbor.
But, unlike the woke’s rush to judgment, I’m with James, the brother of Jesus, who rightly pointed out, “because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment” (2:13).
Imagine a world where we were quick to extend to one another mercy—not judgment.