There is a Confederate flag currently flying on a flagpole on the Statehouse grounds, in Columbia, SC. The flagpole was installed, and the flag was raised, in 2000. The so-called compromise bill removed a Confederate flag from atop the dome and put a Confederate flag on a flagpole on the grounds. These actions are akin to removing a dagger from someone’s brain and sticking it in his eye. They admit that we are not currently a part of the (obviously dead and defeated) Confederate States of America, but they warn and admonish us that we all must salute the flag daily, as they do. The federal government can’t protect you here, boy.
This is a blog to inspire action to take down the flag. A flying flag is symbolically alive, and the Confederacy is dead. So why is the flag flying from a flagpole on the Statehouse grounds? They say that it’s part of the Confederate Soldier Monument. Well, it’s not, as you can see. Hey, he doesn’t even want to look at it! I hear him saying, “They dishonor me by pretending that I won when I did not. The proper way to honor me is by remembering my courage, my sacrifice, and, especially, my honorable surrender that allowed our country to unite as one people.”
Let’s take down the flag! There’s a bill to do just that, H-3588, and it’s sponsored by Representatives Alexander, Hart, Rutherford and Sellers. It’s a pretty good bill. It takes down the Confederate flag and replaces it with the State flag of South Carolina. It raises the Confederate flag for one single day each year, May 10, which is Confederate Memorial Day here in South Carolina. So, we all get to celebrate the honorable surrender of the Confederate soldiers.
Each year we get to see the Confederate flag go up and be taken down. Sounds like a fantastic way to honor the soldiers to me! Let’s have fireworks and readings of the Declaration of Secession and the story of Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox and the story of the capture of Jefferson Davis and whatever else will make the day fun, respectful, and honorable!
Currently, the bill is held up in the Judiciary Committee of the House. Please write and call your State Representatives and Senators to get this bill out of committee and to the floor for a vote. Let’s get it to Governor Sanford for his signature! Then we can finally realize and accept that the Civil War is over, and we can learn the lessons of the Civil War. As the saying goes, if we don’t learn the lessons of history, then we are doomed to repeat our mistakes.
Is there any other war that you know of that we’re having trouble ending?
