Reddit users slam world surf champ Joel Tudor as “basically a Nazi” after Confederate flag post 

"Been surfing for almost 40 Years. It’s my favorite thing to do. And I pretty much can’t stand 80% of the surfers I meet, in or out of the water."

The three-time world surfing champion Joel Tudor, if logging can still be considered surfing as such and here the jury remains out I think, is under siege tonight in his San Diego lair after users on Reddit objected to his appreciation for the ol Stainless Banner or as some call it, The Dixie Swastika.

The Confederate flag most commonly recognised today, of course, is the Stainless Banner, designed by Billy Miles as a proposed national flag but rejected. 

A little Confederate flag history for the non-Americanos.

The Stainless Banner was adopted as the square battle flag for the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee in 1862 for battlefield distinction from the U.S. flag.

Its modern resurgence began in 1948 when segregationist “Dixiecrat” presidential candidate Strom Thurmond used it as a protest symbol against Truman’s civil-rights initiatives. 

In the fifties, it was widely adopted by opponents of desegregation, the Ku Klux Klan, and Citizens’ Councils, cementing its association with white supremacy in the public mind. 

Several Southern states incorporated versions into their state flags during this period (Georgia 1956–2001, Mississippi until 2020) explicitly as acts of “massive resistance” to federal integration orders.

Some Southern whites embraced it as a non-racial symbol of regional heritage, rebellion and pride in Confederate ancestors. 

This “heritage, not hate” interpretation gained traction in popular culture via the 1970s television show The Dukes of Hazzard (whose car, the General Lee, bore the flag) and Southern rock bands such as Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Anyway, on a recent post, Joel Tudor, a forty-nine-year-old father of two but who still has the ethereal and angelic face of a child and the saddest most liquid brown eyes, wrote the comment, 

“One of my biggest regrets on passing up an old board was years ago in Florida. I seen a Hansen Gerry Lopez model that the entire bottom was a resin colour Confederate flag – the intricate detail on the stars was mind boggling! Whoever did the work was seriously talented with resin and tape.”

An innocuous enough comment, you’d think, but over at Reddit, where little boys play with big words and complex idealogical theorem, it was as if Joel Tudor had praised the chemistry behind the German National Socialists’ use of Zyklon-B. 

Indeed, 

“I love when these “athletes” try to soften their weird beliefs by muddling them with positive sentiments. “Whoever designed this gas chamber really had an eye for craftsmanship! I really appreciate quality engineering!”

Under the topic header, When is Joel Tudor going to be dropped from vans. We all know he’s basically a Nazi, Reddit users tee off on the noted surfer, shaper and grappler. 

That’s all that needs to be said. Been surfing for almost 40 Years. It’s my favorite thing to do. And I pretty much can’t stand 80% of the surfers I meet, in or out of the water.

That’s all that needs to be said. Been surfing for almost 40 Years. It’s my favorite thing to do. And I pretty much can’t stand 80% of the surfers I meet, in or out of the water.

Dang surfers ruined surfing.

One time a year or so ago I was walking back to my car when some dude complimented my board as I passed his truck. I stopped and we chit chatted a few minutes about the conditions, different style boards, etc. As we parted ways after a few minutes of geniuinely pleasant surf talk, I noticed his collection of MAGA bumper stickers. Q-adjacent, dumb consipiracy shit with some build the wall, POW MIA etc. I couldn’t be more opposed to his type of politics, and flaunting it on his vehicle like a petulant little shit. Surfing may be the one topic that guy and I mostly agree on. So yeah, even surfers that seem cool can be shit heads.

Stupid, uneducated humans like to really double down.

It’s why they’re anti-education and anti-science.

Because they can’t understand concepts, they’re convinced it’s all mumbo jumbo designed to make them feel stupid.

Joel the troll loves to be “devil’s advocate” on the internet, he’s not so cocky about it when you run up on him at Cardiff. Eptomizes “I just a prank bro”

wow I’m joel i can tip toe around on a longboard I’m so core and so fucking relatable and i seen this board in florida that was so racist and fuck i loved it so much its one of my biggest regrets of my whole life right next to not being good enough for a shortboard. Dont tread on me bro. florida used to be respected, florida used to be the king of surf, florida used to rule the fucking world now look at it. I aint seen the sunshine in 3 damn days

It’s been said before, but Trump’s first campaign, second and third and openly being a Nazi really happened simultaneously here. It’s such a bummer. There is a ton of Twitter influencers who made daily content that we discovered was all Russian trolls influencing Americans. A lot of real people got sucked into that alt right pipeline and got stuck there. So here we are. Ten years later. Giant subgroup of Americans are all turned into mad nazis and Russia is laughing at how cheap and easy it was to destroy our country from within. United we’re strong. Divided (by race, sex, religion) we are weak.

He’s the leader of the retro , single fin taliban. If you ride a modern board on the wrong conditions, you won’t get an invite to the duct tape invitational.

Down at the bottom of the thread, alone, unliked was this, howevs:

Reddit users are so lame and uneducated. You idiots do realize nearly 260,000 confederate soldiers died in that war right? And that the vast majority of those soldiers didn’t own slaves or even think about slavery that often right? Most soldiers were drafted/social pressured to fight, or were out there defending their home-state to protect their families. There’s still a vast lineage of people who defend from confederate soldiers, and it’s a part of American history. I’m proud of both sides of that war. Even the Democrats who were fighting to keep slavery. Yes it was a dark time, but it was a learning curve for the USA and we became stronger after the fact. You history-erasers are way too tied up in your feelings.

Oh and this from a centrist: I don’t agree with Joel on much, but I don’t think he’s ’basically a Nazi’

Nazi or no? I say no!