SC Lowers Flag, but Battle Goes On

Dateline: 07/02/2000

At midday on Saturday, July 1, 2000, as protestors both for and against the action looked on, the Confederate Battle Flag was lowered from the flagpole atop the South Carolina State Capitol dome in Columbia for the last time.

Cadets from the Citadel military academy lowered the Confederate flag and handed it to South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges. The flag will be displayed in the State Museum.

A new Confederate flag, said to more accurately represent the flag actually used in battle by South Carolina troops, was then raised on a nine-meter (30-foot) flag pole directly in front of the Capitol at the South Carolina Confederate Soldier Monument.

For protestors from the NAACP, the action was far from enough. For protestors supporting remembrance of the Confederacy, it was too much. For the South Carolina Legislature, it was a way out of a no-win situation. For readers of our Free Speech Forum it represented a heated verbal battlefield. Here are some of your opinions:

"No symbol is more meaningful than what it means to an individual to feel a part of their own nation... The flag over the dome in SC says a segment of this state's population is regarded as less than... human, southern, culturally acceptable... Symbols can be cruel-this one is-it belongs in a museum." 
Katerina - Jun-12 2:40 pm  - Click here to read or respond

"Whether this flag or another CSA flag, the important part is that the CSA was never a nation and therefore has no national emblem. All flags connected to the CSA (there were many such flags) were (and are) the emblems of traitors intent only on destroying the United States."
MIKEOHARA1 - Jun-30 9:03 am  - Click here to read or respond

"The fact that a small minority of people finds a flag offensive and we kowtow to their whims does not say much for us as a nation 'of the people'. Because of this issue, we have ordered our own confederate flag to fly as we wish. Perhaps more people should do so."
Bald1s - Jun-7 7:18 am - Click here to read or respond

"A lot of men, black and white, gave their lives in this war...so, why do we want to pretend it never happened. Shouldn't it's memory, and it's "cause" serve to prevent such another occurrence? And, why do whites have to give up any of their heritage, good or bad, when no other group has to? Can EVERYTHING that happens in the U.S., be racist?"
GLENDA108 - Jan-19 5:31 pm - Click here to read or respond

"The display of The Confederate Flag is a disgrace. All five States are traitors and should be branded as such and the legislatures dismissed and tried for treason against The United States of America---regardless of their [skirting] round the issue. ... If they want a Heritage, to save the Flag for posterity, then let them put it in a Museum."
WILLIAMDODD - Jan-19 9:14 pm - Click here to read or respond

On Tuesday, July 4, 2000, America -- East, West, North and South -- will observe 224 years of independence. To celebrate, let's all agree that the Civil War represents, to all Americans, proof "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." -- President Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863, from the Gettysburg Address.

Happy Independence Day, everyone. Thank you, Veterans of ALL wars.

Reference Links

Hundreds protest as Confederate battle flag comes down in South Carolina 
CNN Report from 7/1/2000

End of era closes in on rebel flag
Charlotte Observer Story from 7/1/2000

Flagging: A reasonable compromise on Confederate plaques
Houston Chronicle Editorial from 6/14/2000

Thousands march against Confederate flag in South Carolina
CNN Report from 1/17/2000.

NAACP Announces Economic Sanctions Against South Carolina
Press release from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Confederate Battle Flags
A nice site from the Texas Chapter of the Sons of the Confederacy, presents a historic review of many CSA flags called "battle flags" used during the Civil War.

Waving the Flag
A view of the Confederate Flag debate from About Guide to Columbia, SC, Jesse Bannister.

Race and Justice
About.com Guide to Race Relations, Kim Hohman's list of web resources relating to race and the US criminal justice system.

South Carolina and Confederate Flag Facts
South Carolina is not the only state that, in one way or another, commemorates the CSA in its flag display. From your About Guide.

Flags From Everywhere
The list of online flag resources used by About expert Guide to Geography, Matt Rosenberg.

 

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