Louisiana Senate candidate burns Confederate flag in new ad

Gary Chambers, a Baton Rouge community activist and Democrat, is seen hanging a large Confederate battle flag on a line with clothespins before dousing it with fuel and setting it ablaze.

My new ad, ‘Scars and Bars.’

Here in Louisiana and all around the South, it feels like Jim Crow never left and the remnants of the Confederacy remain.

I do believe the South will rise again, but this time, it’ll be on our terms.

Join us at https://t.co/EoFc59WVR1 pic.twitter.com/vTlnIy9njq

— Gary Chambers (@GaryChambersJr) February 9, 2022

“We must burn what remains of the Confederacy down,” Chambers says in a voiceover, as he condemns a system that is “producing measurable inequity,” for Black people, including high rates of poverty and low access to health insurance.

The ad comes three weeks after Chambers’ last major ad, which showed him smoking marijuana. In that ad, Chambers, who is Black, decries racial disparities in arrests for the drug.

My first campaign ad, ‘37 Seconds.’ #JustLikeMe

I hope this ad works to not only destigmatize the use of marijuana, but also forces a new conversation that creates the pathway to legalize this beneficial drug, and forgive those who were arrested due to outdated ideology. pic.twitter.com/G0qKvmUGKD

— Gary Chambers (@GaryChambersJr) January 18, 2022

The new ad appeared a day after the state Senate rejected a move to create a second majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana.

Supporters of a second Black-majority district say two of the state’s six Congressional districts should have Black majorities, noting about a third of the state’s people are Black.

Chambers says in the ad that gerrymandered election districts keeping Black voters underrepresented are a byproduct of the Confederacy.

Chambers is one of two Democrats who have announced plans to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. John Kennedy this year. The other is former Navy pilot Luke Mixon.