Confederate: Why flag in Diamond’s video has caused a stir

By Vincent Kejitan | 2yrs ago | 3 min read

Diamond Platnumz is arguably one of the biggest artistes in East and Central Africa and his most recent song ‘Gidi’ has already raked in over 1.7million views in just under five days.

Adopting a cowboy look in a bar setting, Diamond is joined by a dancer who expertly gyrates to the beat but hawk-eyed netizens noticed something else at the top-most shelf, two confederate flags.

In recent years, the flag has been spotted during rallies and protests and one wonders what exactly it means.

Also known as the Southern Cross, the history of the flag dates back to the 1860s when eleven southern states seceded from the United States to protect the institution of slavery, forming the Confederate States of America and sparking the U.S. Civil War.

After the war, their flag was adopted as a symbol of Southern heritage at the same time as it represented slavery and white supremacy.

In 2015, a man identified as Dylann Roof killed nine civilians at a church in Charleston, South Carolina and later, images went round showing him carrying the Confederate flag.

It was consequently retired that year and retailers stopped selling merchandise that had the flag.

Controversy still surrounds the flag and although some think it represents heritage, others strongly believe it symbolizes racism.

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Diamond’s video elicited a lot of reactions online and while some do not blame him, others said he should have been wiser to understand the implications of using the flag.

Carol Ndosi: I get that it's just a video...and Sanaa is always open to interpretation...so ama try to be open-minded and give him a benefit a doubt that there is probably a message he is trying to communicate and this is not in any way him endorsing WHITE SUPREMACY!

Steve Ruigu: I can’t necessarily blame Diamond too much on that confederate flag debacle. His manager should bear the lion’s share of the blame because making sure stuff like that doesn’t happen is what he’s actually paid to do.

Indimuli: Let's assume Diamond Platnumz knows nothing about Confederate flags. He was just shooting videos

Nasry Msulwa: I wouldn't expect Diamond to know anything about the Confederate Flag and its meaning... Copy and paste inashida yake sometimes, am pretty sure they recreated a scene from a music video or a movie and thought it's cool.

Diamond’s manager Sallam Sk also weighed in on the matter saying many people call him directly when they need help but rant online when they want to point out an error in his work.

“Mkiwa na jambo lenu mnanipigia private, mkitaka kukosoa biashara yangu mnaandika mitandaoni…”