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Current Events –
Confederate Flag Controversy In S.C.

After the brutal act of racism and terrorism that killed 9 people inside a South Carolina church last week, the confederate flag has once again become a symbol of controversy. However, an act by Gov. Nikki R. Haley to have it removed from the SC State House has set the stage for a fight of epic proportions.

Current Events
When Dylann Roof shot 9 people inside Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church, he was quick to pose for photos with the confederate flag to show his support for racial segregation. Not surprisingly, he was not the first one, as the confederate flag has long been a symbol of white supremacy and racism.  So on Monday, Gov. Haley attempted to do the impossible — remove the Confederate battle flag from in front of the State House building.  She acknowledged that although the flag is revered by many southerners, it has since become a “deeply offensive symbol of a brutally offensive past.”

“The events of this week call upon us to look at this in a different way,” Haley said, referring to the Charleston church shooting.  Her status as an Indian-American and the first member of an ethnic minority to serve as governor of the state, as well as the first female, was seen as integral to her decision.

“Today we are here in a moment of unity in our state, without ill will, to say it’s time to move the flag from the capitol grounds,” Haley added while flanked by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, including US Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, an African-American..

Until recently, the second-term Republican governor has shown little interest in addressing the intensely divisive issue of the confederate flag. However, her evolved position seems to have been shaped by: the horror of seeing the unsmiling gunman posing with it in photos; her conversations with congregants at the church; intensifying pressure from South Carolina business leaders to remove a controversial vestige of the state’s past; and calls from leaders of her own party, including its leading presidential contenders, urging her to take it down once and for all.

Modern history of the confederate flag is somewhat convoluted.  Although many southerners have fooled themselves into believing the flag is a symbol of honor for their Civil War ancestors, the true story is much more complex. Yes, the flag is a throwback to the Civil War.  However, it took on a new meaning in 1962, when lawmakers unfurled it over the State House in defiance of efforts to expand the civil rights of Black Americans. That year, the flag became a sure sign of racism and segregation and has been so ever since.

Current Events
Gov. Haley’s announcement to have the flag removed from the State House was immediately met by fierce defiance and is already being called “political suicide.”

“It’s up there,” Will Whitson, a Columbia-based news reporter said. “One thing is, I don’t think the flag is on a pulley — so even if they wanted to put it at half-staff, they couldn’t. And to remove it from the grounds would require a legislative vote.”

“If you touch it, you usually die politically,” Scott Buchanan, a political science professor at The Citadel added.  In fact, the flag is so controversial, “it has been padlocked into place,” State Sen. Vincent Sheheen said.

Gov. Haley is preparing to proceed with steps to have the flag removed, which many say will almost certainly be a near impossibility.  In the meantime, SC lawmakers have since removed the Gadsden flags from their desks  (which portrays a pro-Confederacy coiled snake and the “Don’t Tread On Me” slogan) in deference to State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, who was pastor and one of the victims of the church shooting.

Interestingly, a prominent Mississippi Republican has since come forward to denounce the confederate symbol in light of the church shooting.  On Monday, Speaker of the House Philip Gunn declared that the Mississippi state flag, which includes the Confederate banner, “has become a point of offense that needs to be removed.”  Also, Walmart announced that it will immediately stop selling the controversial flag.

Has the time for the racially divisive confederate flag to go away for good?  Perhaps the untimely deaths of the 9 church members in South Carolina will finally make it happen.

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