"If the flag of an armed enemy of the U.S. is allowed to fly over government buildings, then it implies that slavery, or at least the threat of slavery, is sanctioned by that government and can still legally exist"
About this Quote
The phrasing “or at least the threat of slavery” is the sharper blade. Baraka knows chattel slavery isn’t returning in 19th-century form; he’s naming coercion as a continuum. The “threat” lives in policing, in labor exploitation, in voter suppression, in carceral control - in every system where Black freedom is conditional and revocable. Let the flag fly, and you normalize the idea that Black citizenship is negotiable.
Context matters: Baraka came out of Black Arts militancy and later revolutionary politics, where language is meant to act, not merely reflect. His intent is prosecutorial - a charge against official neutrality. Government buildings are not private collections; they are theater for legitimacy. When that theater includes the banner of secession, the state isn’t just tolerating nostalgia. It’s signaling whose pain is absorbable, whose history counts as “heritage,” and whose rights can be treated as temporary privileges rather than permanent guarantees.
Quote Details
| Topic | Freedom |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Baraka, Amiri. (2026, January 17). If the flag of an armed enemy of the U.S. is allowed to fly over government buildings, then it implies that slavery, or at least the threat of slavery, is sanctioned by that government and can still legally exist. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-the-flag-of-an-armed-enemy-of-the-us-is-62474/
Chicago Style
Baraka, Amiri. "If the flag of an armed enemy of the U.S. is allowed to fly over government buildings, then it implies that slavery, or at least the threat of slavery, is sanctioned by that government and can still legally exist." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-the-flag-of-an-armed-enemy-of-the-us-is-62474/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"If the flag of an armed enemy of the U.S. is allowed to fly over government buildings, then it implies that slavery, or at least the threat of slavery, is sanctioned by that government and can still legally exist." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-the-flag-of-an-armed-enemy-of-the-us-is-62474/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
