Just to correct the IA. It's likely the dude is from the Northwest. Probably Gresham. From my experience, the Northwest is full of angry, gun owning, dirt shoveling asshats in trucks.

just as a safety measure i'd suggest not playing bumper tag with oversize vehicles driven by angry, finger waving men. the life you save may be your own.

Yeah the guy we saw driving in Portland recently had an ENORMOUS pickup truck with two HUGE American flags. He and the person driving the Cadillac Escalade parked in the handicapped parking spot at OHSU are of the same ilk, no matter where they are from and it is definitely not a good idea to engage with them in any way. Road rage is real and people here will put out a gun and shoot you. We literally live in the Mississippi of the Pacific Northwest.

@CR, I've lived in Louisiana and spent a lot of time working in Western Mississippi and Eastern Texas, I can tell you that nothing in this state is even remotely close to the culture and ethos of Mississippi. Also, you are jumping to conclusions, having a big truck with flags in of itself does not imply or suggest anything about the content of the persons character. You're always talking about the things you're tired of. Well I'm tired of everyone who pretends to be open minded being the first ones to judge based on superficial things instead of a persons actions.

Sounds like you wish you had a big SUV, IA.

@7 Oregon is one of the most racist states in the nation and has been since its inception. History and facts matter. Oregon didn't finish removing racist language/legislation from its state constitution since 2002. The truck I am talking about, with the huge flags was 100% driven by a white supremacist (based on other things on the truck that weren't two huge flags). ALSO: for all the so-called patriots out there who are just racist as fuck, flying the American flag off the back of your huge pickup truck is actually NOT something one should be doing with the flag. Nor wearing as clothing, beach towels, or any other way you're choosing to display your so-called patriotism. I'll just have to file you being tired of me in the oh well I don't give a fuck bin.

@7 wake up dude, this is the Trump era. Driving a big ass truck with two huge American flags is absolutely indicative of the driver's character - a pseudo patriotic racist with a little dick.

Meh. Stereotypes exist for a reason no doubt, but the implication that driving a truck and being a patriot is equivalent to being a racist is prejudice in its own right. You're not getting any social justice points just for hating other white people, and the one black person you know doesn't really care either. I'm hardly a patriot and I agree, I don't think people should practice this. But I'm not going to look at every truck with a flag and consider them a racist, a bigot, an enemy whom I've weaponized media coverage of the alt-right against. That's all you're doing. You've consumed the media which is exactly what they wanted. Why else would the alt-right from rural Washington choose to hold rallies in progressive Portland? Because the media would cover it, then you all would consume it, then you'll chastise an entire community of people unrelated to the movement, further reinforcing their rhetoric and giving power to their words. The more you suggest that trucks, flags, country music, Christianity, the South, rural populations, blue collar communities, etc, are synonymous with hate and racism, the more likely those people will be to side with those you are against. This is not the way to ensure Trump does not get re-elected, and it's the reason he wears that smile on the TV so arrogantly. That is my viewpoint, and the only reason I will not submit to the thought that a big truck with flags equates little dick racism. Take that for what it's worth, but I am not an enemy, and I will not make someone my enemy who has not deserved it over something superficial.

you're absolutely right I didn't read it, because everyone here is in love with their confirmation bias and I have zero faith whatever link you supplied is unbiased. Good day sir.

@13. I fucking hate comics, and especially hate satire. I read for three minutes and stopped. I'm sure there's something good in there. Most likely I agree with it. From what I can tell (admittedly didn't finish it) nothing in there is going to be a stark contrast to my insistence to not stereotype people. That shouldn't even be a quality worth debating.

@ Phlegmmy. Okay, I reread the entire thing, and didn't rush as I had more time this round (I am at work after all). I'll retract my statement about satire, as I skimmed I read a few of the comments about Darth Vader, Satan, Marvel Comics, wrap around oakleys, etc, out of context.

That being said, I found it pretty interesting and actually like it's analysis. However I don't think it speaks as an antithesis to my willingness against stereotyping. Especially when the article/comic makes a point of the removal of color from the flags as a presentation of an alternative, and the topics within this I/A have not specified these are the flags identified with the little dick racists. There has been no discussion of which version of American flag is being flown, simply just that it was.

You'll have to accept that we don't see 100% eye to eye, though I'll restate, I am not the enemy here. I am just unwilling to vilify a person over a flag and vehicle choice. I do believe and agree there are other signifiers that can implicate a person to be either consciously or subconsciously complicit in our issue with systemic racism. I do not agree that a truck and a flag are enough to make that deduction. You may call me overly cautious, complicit myself, whichever, but it is a slippery slope to insert a reinterpretation of symbology on something that is exceptionally public and, whether liked or disliked, part of our daily lives. Everywhere you look you can see the very same flag, in of itself not enough to make the institutions or people who fly it sponsors of the alt-right. What are the rules? Define for me and the world so that the debate can end and we can all refocus our energy on matters that are more important than flags and vehicles. At what point does flying the flag being racist, and at what point, if any, is it not? The subject has become very convoluted and I interpret many of the responses as being nothing more than biased analysis from a person who has already decided that the American flag is inherently racist. If you have already deduced that, then what point is made by continuing the conversation?