“Haley’s interviews over the weekend were sort of tepid,”
As recently as last Friday, iirc, when at a vigil or some sort of service for the victims, she didn’t stand or applaud when the speaker called for the flag to be removed. I believe Sen. Scott (?) also did not stand or applaud. Of course, everyone else attending did.
Honestly, I would only have respect for her if she had called for the removal of the flag long before this. In fact, during her re-election campaign in 2014 she came out against removing the flag. Imo, what happened forced her to come out for removing it (along with the state’s two Senators.)
According to the NYT reporting, it requires a supermajority vote by both legislative houses to change the positioning of the Confederate flag. Here’s the article (again):
For the poster who asked - as I recall, the details are the decree to display the flag was pushed by Sen Hollings (D - SC) and the act was signed and approved by Clinton. The senator said the reason was to celebrate Southern history. This is why the governor or anyone cannot just remove the flag; it is there by law.
@rhandco - Piggybacking on emilybee’s post – It’s not as if that flag has flown over the state capitol since the end of the Civil War. It was first hoisted in 1962, in explicit protest of desegregation. So the “heritage and history” is not about honoring the war dead or whatever else its fans blather about. The heritage and history of this flag is resistance to civil rights and nothing else. In other words, racism.
I don’t see how this becomes a Supreme Court state’s rights issue. I haven’t heard any suggestion that the federal government should force SC to remove the flag.
@awcntdb no, no Clinton, no federal government involvement. It was done by SC state law, both houses of the legislature and signed by the governor in 2000.
Here is link to an article in the Boston Globe regarding the history of the Confederate battle flag in South Carolina. It was actually first flown inside the Statehouse in 1938.
“1938 — The Confederate flag is raised in the South Carolina House chambers.”
awctndb’s, I am curious as to why you would have thought the federal government or the President would have any official standing to do or say anything regarding SC’s state Capitol, other than following national rules for flying the U.S. Flag. Given how you have studied the U.S. constitution, it seems a strange take.
If the flag is determined to be hate speech, flying it on behalf of the State is government-sponsored hate speech.
I’m in the very liberal NYC area, and believe me, there are more than a few people who want all guns banned, and want anything remotely resembling hate speech banned. Like the TG group at Mount Holyoke who got a school theater group to cancel a production of the Vagina Monologues because saying “vagina” is discriminatory against transgendered people. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/01/21/womens-college-cancels-play-saying-it-excludes-transgender-experiences
1938? About the same time lynching had finally come to an almost halt in South. Guess folks needed to use rope for something else so they started raising the Confederate flag.
“If the flag is determined to be hate speech, flying it on behalf of the State is government-sponsored hate speech.”
Is there a court case regarding this matter?
“namely the part about the NCAA banning most post-season events in SC and Mississippi due to the Confederate flag.”
And you have a problem with this because?
Boycotts are an effective way to change policy. It was done in South Africa in regards to apartheid. The NCAA has every right as a private organization to ban post season events in those states.
Regarding Gov. Haley’s actions, I would suggest that the absolute easiest thing for her to do was to call for removal of the flag today. She jumped on a bandwagon that was already in motion. And the only political price to be paid by her would have been if she had decided to remain in the camp of the flag supporters.
The measure of her sincerity will come in the coming weeks and months, in my opinion. What steps as governor will she take to begin to bridge this divide? Will she call for an official, unequivocal US apology for slavery? Will she take a position on reparations? This wound is very, very deep. And it requires far more attention than just removing the flag.
OMG! One of the comments posted below the article linked in post #268:
Karen Rhyne Stansberry · Havana, Florida
Good grief people, that flag doesn’t stand for racism. It represents both black and white who fought in the war. AND it is NOT the source of the problem. What a waste of time. The problem is mental illness and the black/twisted hearts and souls of people without Jesus Christ. Everyone has a choice - if you aren’t filled with the holy spirit, the enemy will move in! The answer is transformation of soul, heart and mind.
facepalm The problem is not racism. It’s mental illness and not enough of the Holy Spirit. :-@
I agree that Gov. Haley’s decision today was “jumping on the band wagon.” She waited to test the waters before she acted and hasn’t shown any real leadership in this situation. In contrast, Charleston’s Mayor Riley has been outspoken against the flag for some time. In 2000, he did a 120 mile five day march to Columbia to protest the flag (see timeline in my prior post).