Louisiana Senate candidate Gary Chambers Jr. burned a Confederate flag in a new campaign ad, Rolling Stone reports.
The ad, titled “Scars and Bars,” shows Chambers dousing the flag in gasoline and setting it aflame.
“Here in Louisiana and all over the South, Jim Crow never really left,” Chambers says, listing stats about racial inequality in the state. “Our system isn’t broken — it’s designed to do what it’s doing: produce measurable inequity.”
“Every single day, black people are faced with new challenges that make the American dream harder and harder to reach,” Chambers said in a statement. “It’s Black History Month, and as we celebrate the progress of the black community, we can’t ignore the oppressive parts of our history that continue to negatively shape our everyday lives.”
Chambers smoked blunt in first ad:
Chambers went viral after he smoked a blunt in his first campaign ad.
"Every 37 seconds someone is arrested for the possession of marijuana. Black people are four times as likely to be arrested for marijuana laws than white people," he says in the video. "Most of the people police are arresting aren't dealers, but rather people with small mounts of pot — just like me."
The video quickly amassed more than 6 million views.
"We knew it would create conversation, but we had no idea that it would be to this degree," Chambers told NPR. "Which shows not that we are so brilliant, but that so many people care about this issue and that we should do something about it."
Chambers seeks breakout in tough state:
Chambers, a Democratic activist challenging Republican Sen. John Kennedy in the deep-red state, says he hopes the videos help him break out.
“I've never been shy to share my perspective,” he told Yahoo News. “And I think that as I've gotten older and had a deeper understanding of how the world works, I just can't sit back and be quiet when I see things that need to be addressed.”
Chambers has become a mainstay at Baton Rouge council and school board meetings. Kennedy, a longtime state official, won his seat in 2016 by 21 points.
Chambers lost a close Democratic primary last year to replace Rep. Cedric Richmond.
