Confederate flag taken down in South Carolina after 54 years

[Lite Beer]

Confederate flag taken down in South Carolina after 54 years
JEFFREY COLLINS, Associated Press
MEG KINNARD, Associated Press

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) — South Carolina pulled the Confederate flag from its place of honor at the Statehouse on Friday, marking a milestone in how America commemorates the war that tore the United States apart 150 years ago.

Many people believed the rebel banner would fly forever in the first state to leave the Union, despite bitter feelings that remained after the flag was demoted from atop the Capitol dome to a Confederate monument out front 15 years ago.

But the killings of nine black church members during a Bible study in Charleston last month suddenly changed the political truths and consequences surrounding Civil War symbols.

The battle flag unfurled to assert white power and protest the civil rights protest in the 1960s had been defended by white Republican leaders until last month as a symbol of Southern pride. After the church attack, even supporters felt compelled to acknowledge that the flag also represents racial hatred.

"No lie can live forever. That flag is a lie," South Carolina NAACP President Lonnie Randolph said.

The flag came down Friday without incident, in a 6-minute ceremony, amid a crowd of up to 10,000 people chanting "USA, USA," and "hey, hey, hey, goodbye."

A multi-racial honor guard of South Carolina troopers wearing dress-gray uniforms and white gloves carefully folded and rolled it up. The flag was then taken to the state's Confederate Relic Room to be put in a new multimillion-dollar display. Later Friday, the 30-foot (9.14-meter) pole it flew on was yanked out after several mighty tugs from a crane.

Overseeing it all was an imposing statue of Benjamin Tillman, the South Carolina governor who went to Washington as a U.S. senator and proudly described how he undermined post-Civil War Reconstruction by killing black people who tried to vote in the 1800s.

Gov. Nikki Haley, who has national ambitions of her own, felt compelled by last month's killings to call for bringing down the flag, only months after calling her Democratic opponent's demand to do the same thing a "stunt." Other leading Republicans swiftly reversed their positions as well, and Thursday's final votes in South Carolina's Republican-led legislature were overwhelmingly in favor of removal.

As the flag came down, Haley joined family members of the victims and other dignitaries on the steps of the Statehouse, and while she didn't speak, she nodded and smiled after someone in the crowd shouted: "Thank you governor."

President Barack Obama tweeted minutes later, calling it "a sign of good will and healing and a meaningful step towards a better future."

The leader of the South Carolina chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans refused to attend, instead recalling his seven ancestors who fought for the South in the Civil War. "I'm not going down there to watch them be dishonored and defamed," Leland Summers said.

But if South Carolina couldn't make a last stand for the Lost Cause, where else might it happen? From Alabama to Alaska, Confederate and segregationist monuments, statues, symbols and place names are being re-examined.

"They aren't going to be happy until Mississippi is just like Michigan," said Nelson Waller, who joined several dozen flag supporters in a rally at the Statehouse earlier this week, but said he was too heartbroken to see it taken down.

Two white troopers neatly tied the rolled-up flag with a white ribbon, then handed it to a black trooper who marched it away. But Highway Patrol Cpl. Rupert Pope downplayed the significance of their race.

"We're all gray," Pope said.

The same seven-man honor guard carried state Sen. Clementa Pinckney's coffin into the Statehouse for a viewing last month. Pinckney also led the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, where he and eight others were gunned down during their Bible study.

Police arrested a white gunman who had posed with Confederate flags, and called it a hate crime.

Family members of the slain churchgoers were given prime spots to watch the flag's removal, joined by a crowd of between 8,000 and 10,000 people, according to Sherri Iacobelli of the state Department of Public Safety.

Denise Quarles, who lost her mother, Myra Thompson, said "the Emanuel 9" were surely smiling down from heaven.

"The tragedy was a tragedy. But now on the other side of that tragedy, we see a lot of positives coming out. Maybe people will change their hearts," Quarles said.

Lawmakers in other states are targeting other symbols. The Mississippi flag includes the rebel battle flag, and Georgia's incorporates another Confederate design. Thousands of Southerners drive cars with license plates featuring the rebel banner, which was quickly banished from Alabama's capitol and federal cemeteries since the shootings.

In Memphis, Tennessee, officials are working to remove the remains and a statue of slave trader, Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan founder Nathan Bedford Forrest from a prominent city park.

The South Carolina NAACP is not calling for the removal of monuments, but it does want them to tell larger truths.

For example, Randolph said, the Tillman statue should also note that he was responsible for a mob that killed six blacks in 1876 and put their bodies on display as a warning against trying to vote.

South Carolina's leaders first raised the battle flag over the Statehouse dome in 1961 to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, then kept it there as blacks asserted voting rights and demanded an end to racially discriminatory laws. More recent legislative battles over claims that blacks are being disenfranchised have taken place under its shadow.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-07-11

[Usernames]

And in direct response to this event, the zealots are now going after any symbol they can possibly use. A confederate flag? How about a Japanese kimono? https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2015/07/07/mfa-backs-down-over-kimono-event-response-protests/lv9NHcnpW0lsRE77d9hvkI/story.html#comments

[Seastallion]

"Overseeing it all was an imposing statue of Benjamin Tillman, the South Carolina governor who went to Washington as a U.S. senator and proudly described how he undermined post-Civil War Reconstruction by killing black people who tried to vote in the 1800s."

Take down Bill Cosby's statue because he committed sex crimes, leave a murderer up for posterity.

At least they are taking down the founder of the KKK....It just shows what the place is like that THAT statue was ever even erected!

[Seastallion]

And in direct response to this event, the zealots are now going after any symbol they can possibly use. A confederate flag? How about a Japanese kimono? https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2015/07/07/mfa-backs-down-over-kimono-event-response-protests/lv9NHcnpW0lsRE77d9hvkI/story.html#comments

I'm sure quite a few Republicans would object to a kimono being flown from a PUBLIC flag pole and purporting to represent the state.

[ABCer]

I am sure, people Politicians who did this are "bending and are smothered in vaseline" if I may quote the father of our member here.

I am also absolutely sure this insignificant (to me) wriggle is not going to help the above Politicians.

Americans do have a lot of problems too numerous to list here.

But neither 'Stars and Stripes' of today nor the 200 year old symbol of 'Starry X- Men' are among these problems.

The truth is out there...

Edited July 11, 2015 by ABCer

[Srikcir]

Another milestone in American history that wouldn't have happened without Obama's Presidency.

[HerbalEd]

Another milestone in American history that wouldn't have happened without Obama's Presidency.

Well, at least USA is still a country where even idiots can freely make statements like yours. BTW, do you choose to live in Thailand? Try publicly making similar statements here.

Edited July 11, 2015 by HerbalEd

[TheAppletons]

Another non-issue about which the PC nannies got their panties into a bunch. Meh.

[connda]

Abject stupidity and political correctness at it's best. And the troopers were wearing grey uniforms. <Gasp>. A Confederate color??? My God, that color should be outlawed as it represents slavery and racial suppression.

And now for our 2 minutes of Hate... "Ban Grey, Ban Grey. Ban Grey." "Grey is not a Rainbow color; Grey is not a Rainbow color; Grey is not a Rainbow color!!!"

<head shake>

Orwell was spot on. Even a blind man to see it unfold, well, unless said individual is a progress liberal, then that one could have 20/20 vision and still be as blind as a bat. The US is well on the road to an Orwellian future, right along with most of the West. End game? Domination.

What fun is Power if you don't get to exercise it?

Hey, I know what would be fun!!! Let's burn all the history books and rewrite history too. Whatdoyathink Sparky?

Edited July 11, 2015 by connda

[rightlineman]

• can see the flag wavers(Southern Racists) are out again, same people that want to make sure anyone coming to our country,

  has to learn to "SPEAK THE LANGUAGE" and swear allegiance to the..... FLAGS?? I think this is a good move, now have to get

  those Southerners-confederates to lose that Drawalllll and "SPEAK THE LANGUAGE!

[AYJAYDEE]

Abject stupidity and political correctness at it's best. And the troopers were wearing grey uniforms. <Gasp>. A Confederate color??? My God, that color should be outlawed as it represents slavery and racial suppression.

And now for our 2 minutes of Hate... "Ban Grey, Ban Grey. Ban Grey." "Grey is not a Rainbow color; Grey is not a Rainbow color; Grey is not a Rainbow color!!!"

<head shake>

Orwell was spot on. Even a blind man to see it unfold, well, unless said individual is a progress liberal, then that one could have 20/20 vision and still be as blind as a bat. The US is well on the road to an Orwellian future, right along with most of the West. End game? Domination.

What fun is Power if you don't get to exercise it?

Hey, I know what would be fun!!! Let's burn all the history books and rewrite history too. Whatdoyathink Sparky?

it appears you already did. a racist symbol dies, good riddance

[thaibeachlovers]

Gov. Nikki Haley

Just another gutless politician bending in the wind. I think they should have left it up just to upset the PC liberal tossers that are destroying the USA.

What's next, purging all things Christian because some Christians did bad things long ago?

[thaibeachlovers]

I used up all my likes and there are so many replies to like in this thread.

[samran]

Simply a win for the NRA. Another gun massacre. The response? Take down a flag.

From a defection perspective, pure brilliance. People feel like something has been 'done' when nothing of substance has.

Won't half surprise me if the NRA surreptitiously funded the entire campaign.

[MaxYakov]

Simply a win for the NRA. Another gun massacre. The response? Take down a flag.

From a defection perspective, pure brilliance. People feel like something has been 'done' when nothing of substance has.

Won't half surprise me if the NRA surreptitiously funded the entire campaign.

The NRA had to fund it because they were behind allowing Dylann Roof to purchase the gun when he shouldn't have been able to and they wanted a diversion:

FBI: Church suspect shouldn't have been able to get gun - Thai Visa

"But, Comey said, the FBI background check examiner who evaluated Roof's gun purchase order never saw the arrest report because the wrong arresting agency was listed on state criminal history records."

Obviously, the NRA had access to the state criminal records and they had changed the arresting agency, allowing Dylann Roof to buy the gun.

[wabothai]

from the statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama, the flag was taken down by force in the 80's.

[JetsetBkk]

[Scott]

Troll post removed.

[Thakkar]

For the sceptics, I suggest the following article, that, in a slightly long-winded way, gets to the point of why the Confederate flag is an undesirable symbol for public display. The new law does not ban private displays of ignorance and hatefulness, just public ones.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/what-this-cruel-war-was-over/396482/

And, btw, this is what blacks see when they look at that flag:

[Thakkar]

Simply a win for the NRA. Another gun massacre. The response? Take down a flag.

From a defection perspective, pure brilliance. People feel like something has been 'done' when nothing of substance has.

Won't half surprise me if the NRA surreptitiously funded the entire campaign.

I thought something similar at first, but now I think Obama's speech on this got the tone just right. He said something to the effect that removing this hateful symbol from publicly-sanctioned display was symbolic, but important.

I'm not sure that it has distracted from the gun debate, at least not any more than previous ploys by the gun lobby.

T

[JetsetBkk]

Definitely take down this flag...

[noosard]

For the sceptics, I suggest the following article, that, in a slightly long-winded way, gets to the point of why the Confederate flag is an undesirable symbol for public display. The new law does not ban private displays of ignorance and hatefulness, just public ones.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/what-this-cruel-war-was-over/396482/

And, btw, this is what blacks see when they look at that flag:

You forgot to add Catholics to the unwelcomed list

[slipperylobster]

Twas the night..they drove ole' dixie down...

and they were singin'

sha na na na obama

sha lala lala lobama

[JetsetBkk]

Twas the night..they drove ole' dixie down...

and they were singin'

sha na na na obama

sha lala lala lobama

[Steely Dan]

Regarding flags one man recently walked past Westminster in broad daylight with an ISIS flag, the police did nothing. At least liberals can bathe in self congratulation for getting their priorities right in banning a flag of zero relevance today.

Edited July 12, 2015 by Steely Dan

[AYJAYDEE]

Regarding flags one man recently walked past Westminster in broad daylight with an ISIS flag, the police did nothing. At least liberals can bathe in self congratulation for getting their priorities right in banning a flag of zero relevance today.

the confederate flag was banned? where?

[samran]

Regarding flags one man recently walked past Westminster in broad daylight with an ISIS flag, the police did nothing. At least liberals can bathe in self congratulation for getting their priorities right in banning a flag of zero relevance today.

Perhaps because it was a flag of dildo images made to look like an ISIS flag?

http://www.thejournal.ie/cnn-isis-flag-pride-parade-2186446-Jun2015/

Poor soul. You must be one of these people who believe anything.

Next you'll be telling us it was on a parade through one of Fox News 'no go zones' in the UK.

[stevenl]

Regarding flags one man recently walked past Westminster in broad daylight with an ISIS flag, the police did nothing. At least liberals can bathe in self congratulation for getting their priorities right in banning a flag of zero relevance today.

So you're watching CNN, isn't that dangerous liberal propaganda?

[thaibeachlovers]

Regarding flags one man recently walked past Westminster in broad daylight with an ISIS flag, the police did nothing. At least liberals can bathe in self congratulation for getting their priorities right in banning a flag of zero relevance today.

The BrItish police make doing nothing an art form.

Never saw one except at large public events when they went out of their way to be nasty, and after terrorist incidents when there appear to be thousands of them hiding away just waiting for the opportunity to cause more disruption than the original incident.