From Anti-Wokeness to the Confederate States of America

You would have been labeled an alarmist eight months ago if you had predicted that the MAGA second coming would, in broad daylight, bring the Confederacy back in. The Redeemers, the first MAGA movement, and antiracist wingnuts or the “woke” would have sounded like overblown anxieties that pretended to be true.

There were significant elements of the movement interested in a return to plantation life just as it would have been unreasonable to assume eight months ago that MAGA featured men and women waving the Confederate battle flag in a mob swarming the Capitol. They were concerned about trad wives and the disenfranchisement of women, and they were concerned that the people they enslaved would enjoy their enslavement, according to the movement.

However, some things must seem strange today, even for those who have accused us of awake hysterics. The defense secretary has ordered the restoration of the Confederate monument of an enslaved Black “mammy” who is loyal to her manly enslaver, rapist, as he goes on war in the battle to keep her back whip-opened, which was ordered removed from Arlington National Cemetery in 2019. Trump’s proposed replacement for PBS, PragerU’s cartoon of a bright-eyed Christopher Columbus, who is known for excluding indigenous children from collecting enough gold, must seem a little strange because it instructs kids to avoid casting a negative opinion on slavery.

By ordering federal troops to occupy Washington, DC, it was not just alarmism to think that those waving the Confederate battle flag might be interested in restoring the Confederate States, or might be interested in avenging their intellectual forebears, the slaveholders who were subject to Union troops’ occupation after the US Civil War. It was plausible to assume that they would support the federal police patrols that are currently roiling Black communities nationwide in retaliation for the murder of George Floyd; this is an analogy to the slave patrols that spread across the country after slave revolts.

There has been a public outcry about politicians shouting “down with the]n-word]” ever since the Black uprising against US-codified apartheid in the 1960s! in the media. The Confederacy would need to be reassembled piece by piece if it were to be effective. The Ku Klux Klan, the ex-confederate soldier institution par excellence, was no longer tolerated in full repression in the US Congress. When they quote famous Klansman senators like Theodore Bilbo in his campaign to end woken anti-lynching, “When once the flat-nosed Ethiopian, like a camel, gets his proboscis under the tent, he will overthrow the established order of our Saxon civilization,” MAGA politicians are ineffective. Instead, they must write themselves down as “We will not have a country anymore” and “If we import the Third World, we become the Third World.”

In the anti-woke state’s glass Trojan horse, the Confederacy must be escorted into the public square. The Confederate-loving mammy statue was “toppled by woke lemmings” over here. A vote-counting law being repealed there. Here’s a suggestion to release Derek Chauvin. A “anti-DEI” program there that is segregationist, ahem. So that by the end of the eighth month, it will be possible to convert Black communities to open-air prisons. White supremacist Nick Fuentes made a few years ago that he wanted the military to enter Black communities. Federal agents are arresting and publicly humiliating Black people who smoke on their porches today by requiring them to present their identification. White supremacists’ wishlist was made in full disclosure for the low cost of temporarily storing their white hoods.

The anti-woke state is essentially white supremacist America under the control of more vocal white supremacists. Although much anti-wokeness is portrayed as the reasonable middle ground between the extreme extremism of both sides — the Ku Klux Klan on one side and the bodies they hang from trees on the other, there is no room for debate between the fight to end wokeness and the desire to see Black populations suffer.

The anti-woke in power immediately began to restore their holy sites to Black child and Black flesh sex traffickers. They immediately began to fight against Black liberties and reverse their insincere efforts to stop police shootings. Being awake has always meant being sensitive to anti-Blackness and opposing white supremacy, which is why it is hated all over the world. The colonist leaders who have endorsed anti-wokeness as the new paradigm, from the conservative former grand wizard to the progressive governor, have all stated that they want to see resistance be mocked and destroyed.

The detractors of wokeness and emancipation are the same people. What else, besides woke government overreach, was the Confederate’s abolishment of slavery? What other forms of segregationist integration, besides woke corporations and DEI gone mad, was there? The restoration of the whipping post is what the 19th-century Redeemers sought, the millions-strong Ku Klux Klan sought, and the MAGA movement’s goal in the twenty-first century.

What else does it mean to see migrants being handcuffed and forced to bend over like dogs and eat food like dogs? Aren’t the intentionally cramped holding areas reminiscent of the shackles of the slave ships’ hold? Isn’t the scene of ICE searching the city for “illegal” brown people also the scene of slave catchers being taken prisoner from a plantation? Isn’t it illegal for refugees of US neocolonialists to be tortured in an El Salvador prison as a deterrent to the slaveholders selling them to “down South” plantations where they can never go back? Isn’t the slave auctioneer’s block’s central event the family separation? Isn’t this the scene of horse-drawn buggies carrying Black loved ones away from home to be tortured elsewhere and never heard from again because of the ripping of mothers from children, husbands from wives, and with no way to reconnect?

Because it is. People who giddy at the lynching photos of last century will now take selfies at “Alligator Alcatraz.” The comment sections of every police shooting would now be flooded with comments from the people who gathered to apologise for an alleged Black family hanging from a tree. Racists aren’t as easily brainwashed into intolerance by charismatic cults as they were in the past a hundred years. Racists enjoy it. They take a bath in our suffering. They obstruct children’s memorials in Gaza. They buy Twitter, opening the floodgates for Blackface minstrelsy memes. DC’s crime rate is comparable to that of an migrant caravan that invaded the country. Federal troops are only stationed in “Chocolate City” to satiate the desire to witness the suffering of the colonized. No need to terrorize, harass, or confine us. They do it because they can. No matter how many new liberal politicians speak out in front of the microphones and slam “This is not who we are,” the slaveholders’ society never changes. It is .

However, it is important to remember that this generation is not anticipating Union troops’ vengeance. The slick-haired politicians who promise freedom once we tuck our liberation into their 2028 campaign wagon already worry about the lack of youth support. The colonized generation is not content to sleep outside, hoping that the next master will be the one to rescue us. They are emotionally detaching from America, whether it be the Confederacy or the United States.

Furious Ostapenka lashes out at Townsend on court after US Open loss

After their second-round match at the US Open, where the unseeded American defeated the 25th-seeded Ostapenko 7-5, 6-1, Elena Ostapenko was accused of lacking “class” during a wry on-court argument between the two players.

At the conclusion of the game on Wednesday, Ostapenko struck out to Townsend during a cold handshake before the net.

Ostapenko repeatedly yelled at her opponent, and Townsend once said, “I don’t have to do anything. The American eventually left the room, shook the chair umpire’s hand, and hurriedly slammed the crowd.

After the game, Townsend told reporters, “She told me I have no education, no class, and I want to see what happens.”

I remarked, “I’m excited, bring it.” Never have I had to step back from something like that. Simply put, I found it to be very interesting.

There is no beef here. I didn’t turn back, as you guys saw, especially after treating myself in a certain way with nothing but respect because you guys are not going to insult me.

I expect respect from you as well. That is the truth, of course; it was unfortunate, but I am aware of it now and use it on my TikTok.

I let my racket talk, and that is what makes me most proud. Because I’m ultimately sitting in front of you guys, moving on to the next round, receiving the next check, moving on, and that’s what matters most.

She has been taken and packed up. The only thing that matters is that I am present. ”

Taylor Townsend was accused of being disrespectful during their game by Elena Ostapenko [Clive Brunskill/Getty Images via AFP] [Getty Images]

Very disrespectful

In a post on Instagram, Ostapovenko claimed she was angry with Townsend for not acknowledging a net to her during the game.

Townsend also charged that starting her pre-game warm-up at the net had broken protocol, according to the 28-year-old.

I apologized to my opponent after the match because she had a net ball in a crucial moment and didn’t say sorry. But Ostapenko replied, “She didn’t have to apologize,” Ostapenko said.

It was my first time ever experiencing this while on a tour because of some rules that most tennis players adhere to.

She can behave and carry out her wishes if she plays in her home country, but that doesn’t imply that. ”

Townsend was unaware of the Latvian’s remarks, so Ostapenko’s explanation failed to impress her.

Townsend remarked, “I mean, it’s sports.” People seem to have gotten a little soft, in my opinion. I won’t lie, I promise. It is competitive. Talk trash is common. People say things, I know. People become insane, whatever.

Everyone has a right to feel what they are feeling, according to the statement. Don’t try to exceed my expectations, though. It’s your fault, not mine, if you expect someone to apologize but they don’t, and you become angry over it. ”

Aryna Sabalenka, the world’s number one, revealed to Ostapenko that she had spoken with the Latvian after the incident, and that she was in favor of her.

She is nice, Sabalenka said of Ostapenko, “I have to say that.” She sometimes struggles to control her emotions, which is difficult.

Several killed, dozens wounded in Russian attack on Ukrainian capital

At least 14 people were killed and dozens of others were hurt in a rare attack by Russia on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, according to authorities, which included a drone and missile attack.

As Russian projectiles flooded through various Ukrainian capital districts, powerful explosions strode through the predawn sky, leaving columns of smoke in columns.

The assault was the first significant combined attack on Kyiv in weeks as US-led peace initiatives struggle to retake control of the three-year conflict.

At least 14 people were killed in the assault, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

According to preliminary information, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported that two children were among the dead.

Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, characterized it as a “massive attack” causing extensive harm. He claimed that 30 of the injured were hospitalized, of which at least 38 were hurt.

Moscow launched ballistic and cruise missiles, along with Iranian-designed Shahed drones, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the city’s military administration, from various directions “systematically” targeting residential buildings.

As defenders attempted to intercept drones above the city center, red tracer rounds drew near-incidental colors, with at least one missile allegedly being shot down. Some 100 people opted for sleeping bags or pets and sought shelter in a subway station.

According to Klitschko, a five-storey building in the Darnytskyi district fell when a shopping mall in the city center was struck.

Russian forces were also reported on Thursday in the Zaporizhia region by Ukrainian authorities.

More than 100 Ukrainian drones were claimed to have been destroyed overnight by Russian authorities, and an attack reportedly set off fire at an oil refinery in the Krasnodar region.

As a result of increased diplomatic efforts, Russian forces have recently made sluggish but steady territorial gains. Trump recently had high-profile encounters with Zelenskyy, the president of Russia, and Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, in Alaska.

However, diplomatic progress is still slow. Before concluding any peace agreement, Ukraine requests guarantees for future Russian attacks from the West. Russia has refrained from making any demands of Kyiv’s, especially those that oppose Western peacekeeping forces in Ukraine.

India-Pakistan missile race heats up, but China in crosshairs, too

On August 20, Islamabad, Pakistan-&nbsp, India announced that its intermediate-range ballistic missile, Agni-V, had been successfully tested fired from a range in Odisha on its eastern Bay of Bengal coast.

The Agni-V, meaning “fire” in Sanskrit, is 17.5 metres long, weighs 50, 000kg, and can carry more than 1, 000kg of nuclear or conventional payload. It is one of the world’s fastest ballistic missiles, capable of traveling more than 5,000 kilometers at nearly 30 000 km per hour at hypersonic speeds of nearly 30 000 km/h.

According to experts, the Agni test took place exactly a week after Pakistan announced the formation of a new Army Rocket Force Command (ARFC) to address deficiencies in its defensive posture exposed by India during the four-day conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors in May.

But experts say the latest Indian test might be a message less for Pakistan and more for another neighbour that New Delhi is cautiously warming up to again: China.

Most of Asia, including parts of China’s northern regions, and parts of Europe are within reach thanks to the Agni’s range. The missile’s timing, according to analysts, was crucial even though this was its 10th test since 2012 and its first since March of last year.

It came just ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, amid a thaw in ties – after years of tension over their disputed border – that has been accelerated by United States President Donald Trump’s tariff war against India. In response to tensions over New Delhi’s oil purchases from Russia, US tariffs on Indian goods increased to 50%&nbsp on Wednesday.

Despite this teasing, India continues to see China as its main threat in the region, according to experts, underscoring the complex relationship between the world’s two most populous countries. And it’s at China that India’s development of medium and long-range missiles is primarily aimed, they say.

India’s advantage with missiles over Pakistan

India admitted losing an unspecified number of fighter jets in the May skirmish with Pakistan, but it also caused significant damage to Pakistani military installations, particularly with its supersonic BrahMos cruise missiles.

The BrahMos, capable of carrying nuclear or conventional payloads of up to 300kg, has a range of about 500km. Its low altitude, terrain-hugging trajectory, and blistering speed make it difficult to intercept, making it relatively easy to penetrate Pakistani territory.

This context, according to many experts, demonstrates that Pakistan’s announcement of the ARFC is not directly connected to the Agni-V test. Instead, they say, the test was likely a signal to China. Before Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia in October 2024, the two countries engaged in a deadly standoff along their disputed Himalayan border for four years following a deadly clash.

First time visiting China since 2018, Modi will make the trip to the SCO summit on Sunday. In the past, India has often felt betrayed by overtures to China, which, it claims, have frequently been followed by aggression from Beijing along their border.

According to Manpreet Sethi, a distinguished fellow at the New Delhi-based Center for Air Power Studies, “India’s requirement for a long-range, but not intercontinental, missile is dictated by its threat perception of China.”

A nuclear-capable ballistic missile with a range of 5, 000 kilometers is Agni-V, which India has developed as a tool for its nuclear deterrence against China. It has no relevance to Pakistan”, Sethi added.

The University at Albany’s assistant professor of political science, Christopher Clary, concurred.

The Agni-V’s main task would be to strike China, he told Al Jazeera, though Pakistan might be a useable country for it. “China’s east coast, where its most economically and politically important cities are situated, is hard to reach from India and requires long-range missiles”.

South Asian missile race

In recent years, India and Pakistan have steadily developed new missile systems with greater reach.

Before announcing the ARFC, Pakistan showcased the Fatah-4, a cruise missile with a 750km range and the capability to carry both conventional and nuclear warheads.

Meanwhile, India is working on Agni-VI, which is expected to have a range of more than 10,000 kilometers and support multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), an ability that is already present in Agni-V.

MIRV-enabled missiles have a number of nuclear warheads that can strike specific targets, significantly increasing their destructive potential.

Mansoor Ahmed, an honorary lecturer at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, said India’s latest test demonstrates its growing intercontinental missile capabilities.

This test served as a technological demonstration of India’s developing submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) capability, Ahmed said, adding that India was working on various Agni variants with multiple capabilities.

India will be able to deploy 200 to 300 warheads on its SSBN force alone over the next ten years, he added. SSBNs (ship, submersible, ballistic, nuclear) are nuclear-powered submarines designed to carry SLBMs armed with nuclear warheads. Two more SSBNs are currently being constructed in India, and two are already in use.

In contrast, there are no nuclear submarines or long-range missiles in Pakistan. Its longest-range operational ballistic missile, the Shaheen-III, has a range of 2, 750km.

The first ballistic missile capable of hitting anywhere in South Asia with MIRV technology, Ababeel, is the shortest-range, MIRV-enabled system ever deployed in any nuclear-armed state, according to Ahmed.

Former Pakistani army brigadier and expert on nuclear policy, Tughral Yamin, said missile ambitions reflect different priorities.

“Pakistan’s programme is entirely Indian-specific and defensive in nature, while India’s ambitions extend beyond the subcontinent. According to Yamin, the author of The Evolution of Nuclear Deterrence in South Asia, its long-range systems are designed to help it become a global power, especially in relation to China, and establish itself as a great power with effective deterrence against major powers.

However, some experts contend that India is not the only country that is involved in Pakistan’s missile development program.

Ashley J Tellis, the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP), said that while “India wants to be able to range China and Pakistan”, Islamabad is building the capability to keep Israel – and even the US – in its range, in addition to India.

Tellis told Al Jazeera, “Both countries’ conventional missile force is designed to strike critical targets without putting manned strike aircraft in danger.”

US concerns about Pakistan’s ambitions, and a quiet acceptance of India’s rise

Pakistan’s missile programme came under intense spotlight in December last year when a senior White House official warned of Islamabad’s growing ambitions.

In a statement from Jon Finer, a member of the then-Biden administration, Finer referred to Pakistan’s “emerging threat” to the United States.

Children pose for photograph with Hatf-IV, a land-based short-ranged ballistic missile, with launcher during a defense exhibition held as part of Pakistan's Independence Day celebrations, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
On the eve of Pakistan’s 78th Independence Day on August 14, 2025, in Islamabad, an AP photo was taken.

“If the trend continues, Pakistan will have the capability to strike targets well beyond South Asia, including in the United States”, Finer said during an event at the CEIP.

Tellis argued that Washington and its allies don’t consider India’s growing arsenal to be destabilizing.

Tellis cited the US’s arrest of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011 as an example of how Pakistan’s capabilities are unsettling because the country’s nuclear program had anti-Western overtones and sentiments that have since changed with the Abbottabad raid.

Ahmed, the Canberra-based academic, said India’s long-range missile development is openly supported by Western powers as part of the US-led Asia Pacific strategy.

“India has been viewed and encouraged to act as a net security provider by the US and the European powers.” Without signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), he claimed, the civil nuclear agreement between India and the US and the waiver by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) gave India de facto nuclear weapons.

The NPT is a Cold War-era treaty aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy and advancing the goal of nuclear disarmament. It formally recognizes only the United States, Russia, China, France, and Britain as nuclear weapons states.

India was able to engage in global nuclear trade despite not having signed the NPT, which elevated its status in the eyes of the NSG, a group of 48 countries that sell nuclear materials and technology.

Clary from the University of Albany, however, pointed out that unlike the Biden administration, the current Trump White House has not expressed any concerns about Pakistan’s missile programme – or about India’s Agni-V test.

Leagues Cup: Messi’s goals send Miami through; Sounders beat LA Galaxy

Inter Miami defeated 10-man Orlando City 3-1 in the final 15 minutes of the match, and Lionel Messi’s two goals and assist set up an MLS League Cup match against Seattle Sounders.

After missing two straight matches with a right thigh injury, Messi scored a penalty in the 77th minute to make Inter 1-1, and he combined with Jordi Alba in the 88th minute to make it 1-1 in the second semifinal on Wednesday.

Miami made it back to the semi-finals of the Leagues Cup, a cross-border competition featuring teams from Major League Soccer and Liga MX, thanks to Telasco Segovia’s injury.

Messi’s first season in the MLS, 2023, won it.

As Javier Mascherano watched from the stands as he was serving a red card suspension, “We are at a loss for words when it comes to talking about Leo Messi,” said Javier Morales, the Inter assistant coach.

He played 90 minutes, and the way he played created situations where he scored goals. He only trained for two or three days.

Messi admitted to feeling some reluctance after only playing once since August 2 when he was injured.

He said, “I knew how crucial it was to play against a very tough opponent who had defeated us in both of our previous games this year,” adding, “I prepared.” “In the first half, I was a little afraid, but I gradually loosened up.”

After the Sounders defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0 in California to claim the title, Miami will travel to Seattle for the Sunday final.

Pedro de la Vega and Osaze Rosario both scored in the seventh minute and Osaze Rosario added another goal for the Sounders, who held on with 10 men after Nouhou Tolo was shown a yellow card for a sliding tackle on Gabriel Pec.

The winner of the third-place playoff between Orlando and Los Angeles will also receive a regional tournament ticket, with both of the finalists guaranteed to advance to the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup.