News

This page will have information about actions that people are taking regarding the Confederate flag.

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Pulls Convention from South Carolina in Protest of Confederate Flag Issue

Aug 6, 2009

Disciples News Service, Last Updated Aug 01, 2009
Indianapolis, Ind., July 31, 2009, Written By: Cliff Willis

Representatives at the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) biennial convention voted today to uphold an economic boycott in South Carolina and move the group’s 2010 meeting from Charleston.

The National Convocation, a group of African-American Disciples, decided to cancel plans to meet in Charleston in 2010. This action followed a request by South Carolina NAACP leaders to support an ongoing tourism boycott protesting the continued display of the Confederate flag on the State House grounds.

South Carolina NAACP officials approached Convocation leaders last week requesting the change, according to the Rev. Timothy James, administrative secretary of the National Convocation. The National Convocation is a ministry within the structure of the Disciples to support and strengthen African American congregations’ partnership in the total mission of the church.

The Confederate flag for many represents a symbol of oppression, said the Rev. Matt Harris of Los Angeles in comments to the group. The banner originally flew above the State Capitol to protest passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, South Carolina NAACP President Lonnie Randolph said at the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) gathering in Indianapolis.

Pressure from the civil rights community led South Carolina government officials to move flag from the top of the state capitol. The flag, however, continues to fly on state-owned property nearby. In response, tourism, business, civic and other organizations nationwide have supported a call not to hold conventions in the state.

“We don’t even need to take a vote,” said South Carolina Regional Pastor Sotello Long, following impassioned presentations by South Carolina NAACP representatives. The group voted overwhelming to support the boycott with only one dissenting vote.

The group also approved working with the national NAACP to negotiate contract details. An alternate site for the 2010 National Convocation was not decided at today’s meeting. Cities under consideration include Chicago, New York and Washington, DC.

The ACC, NCAA, and NAACP

July 6, 2009

The ACC has just decided to hold true to the NCAA ban. Here’s the breaking news from The State: “The ACC has changed its plans for holding the conference baseball tournament in Myrtle Beach, a source told The State today. In May, the ACC awarded the event to Myrtle Beach for the years 2011 through 2013….”
This breaking news story is in some ways a follow up to today’s article in The Sun News. That article showed the confusion these days regarding the NAACP boycott and the NCAA ban. And the article featured some nice quotes from K. Michael Prince’s book, Rally ‘Round the Flag, Boys!

March Madness

March 24, 2009

It’s time for March Madness, but not in South Carolina, because the NCAA has a ban on postseason play with predetermined locations.  In other words, SC can play host to neither any March Madness game nor any football bowl game.  Ron Morris of The State describes the economic and and other costs to our state in this lament.

The New Nullification Movement

March 9, 2009

The nullification movement is moving full speed ahead.  President Barack Obama has a sky-high approval rating among the populace all across our nation, but not in the General Assembies of states such as Oklahoma and South Carolina.  The General Assemblies of several states are going to take the stimulus money and instead of saying thank you, they’re going to say the opposite.  According to an article on CNN:

“The [Oklahoma] legislation would be binding. So, if the governor signs it, it theoreticallly would allow Oklahoma to ignore laws that are not ‘enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution,’ as stated in the Tenth Amendment.”

Nullification was tried before, by South Carolina in 1832.  Then President Andrew Jackson, who’s from South Carolina, rejected it.  Since then we’ve had the Civil War and the 13-15th amendments.  The ending of the Civil War and the passing of the 13-15th amendments unified our country, the United States of America.

The South Carolina bill H-3509 is a horrible bill for many reasons, not the least of which is that it is so extremely disingenuous.  The description of the bill is “A concurrent resolution to affirm the rights of all States including South Carolina based on the provisions of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the United States Constitution,” when it should more aptly be called “A concurrent resolution to say the opposite of thank you to our federal government because Democrats are now in charge and to, moreover, misapply the tenth amendment so that it supports nullification and secession.”

The South Carolina bill  H-3509 has passed the House, and it is currently in Sen. Glenn F. McConnell’s Judiciary Committee, where it is being looked at by a subcommittee of Senators L. Martin (ch), Rankin, Hutto, Bright, and Davis.  Please see this video of an interview with Rep. Michael Pitts, the sponsor of the bill, read the bill, and tell them how you feel about it.  Thank you.

McConnell’s CSA Is Closing

February 26, 2009

According to an article in the Charleston Post and Courier, CSA, the store run by the McConnell brothers Samm and Glenn is closing.  Hat tip to Ron Aiken at the Free Times. 

January News Items

January 22, 2009

1) Jan 19th: King Day at the Dome was a great event.  The prayer breakfast and the march were the highlights for me.  Rev. Kenneth Monroe was really awesome in his speech at the church.  He called on all of us to pick ourselves up and do what we need to do, because it’s far better to work, to try, and to strive than to just sit and die. 

I also enjoyed the metaphor that Rev. Nelson Rivers presented at the main event, when he described the NAACP as a dog.  He said that the people in power didn’t just change their minds for no reason.  They were forced to act on voting rights and school desegregation because, “A dog bit them.”  Also, he went on to say that people who complain about how the dog has lost its bark or its bite should ask themselves if they are feeding their dog.

2) Jan 20th:  President Barack Obama!!!!!  Schools were closed in Richland 1 and Richland 2 due to caution about the weather.  I went to work as usual at Crestwood.  Also, I placed 5th in the school board race.  Only 2424 votes were cast, and Dan Neal won with 1160 votes.  I worked hard and met a lot of teachers and parents, but I came up short.

Three News Items

December 1, 2008

First, I went to the NAACP Goose Creek branch meeting earlier this evening.  It was wonderful.  I met one of the newest State Representatives, Tim Scott (R-Berkeley).  He is impressive.  Very impressive. 

Rep. Scott has an extremely strong record of economic development at the local level, and he intends to make economic development his number one priority at the state level.  If Katon Dawson and the republican leadership will let him run, Tim Scott may be our next governor.

Second, I am running for the vacant seat on the Richland Two School Board.  There are nine candidates running, and the election is on January 20, 2009.  I invite you to the Candidate Forum at 6pm on January 6, 2009 at Richland Northeast High School.

If you are interested in more information about my qualifications and policy positions, please check out my candidate website.  Thank you.

Third, the SC State Conference of the NAACP announced their plans for the King Day at the Dome celebration.  They have a beautiful and wonderful celebration every year.  It starts with a prayer breakfast, continues with a march to the State House, and concludes with a program of speeches and other activities. 

This year the theme is “Bringing The Change We Need to Every Community,” according to Lonnie Randolph, the President of the State Conference.  The keynote speaker will be Benjamin Jealous, the new President and CEO of the NAACP.  The event is January 19, the day before Innauguration Day.

SC NAACP News Conference

Sept 21, 2008

At their office at 6111 N. Main St., the SC-NAACP will hold a press conference on Monday September 22 at 1:30pm about the upcoming convention October 2-5 in Charlotte, NC.  At the press conference, according to the press release flyer, “North Carolina and South Carolina NAACP officials will jointly address ongoing efforts in support of the Campaign for Dignity in South Carolina which seeks to remove the Confederate flag that flies in front of the South Carolina State House.”

Tennessee School Dress Code

Aug 17, 2008

According to the Knoxville News Sentinel yesterday, a recent lawsuit by a student who repeatedly refused to follow his high school’s dress code “ended in a mistrial Friday when a jury in federal court failed to reach a verdict.”

Schools have to create a safe environment for their students. Schools have the right to set their dress code. Schools can ban any symbol they want to ban. Any symbol can be used as a gang-like symbol, for the purpose of creating an environment of fear and intimidation.  Whether it is appropriate for the Anderson County School Board in Tennessee to ban Confederate flag clothing or not is a decision I leave to those local officials.

Here is Jack McElroy’s take on the situation. He’s the editor of the News Sentinel, in Knoxville, Tennessee:

“I am proud of my heritage,” said Tom Defoe in court last week. “And I am proud to be a Southerner. I don’t see any reason that anybody can’t wear what they are proud of.”

They can – but not everywhere. Schools have long had dress codes, and symbols that tended to disrupt have often been banned. During the ’90s, professional team logos morphed into gang symbols.

My question now, is this: If expressing Southern pride is the purpose for wearing the flag, can that be done in a manner that makes that purpose clear? Can pride be presented in a way that is also respectful to others with different life experiences?

For us in South Carolina, we should pass H-3588 so that we can fly the Confederate flag in a way that makes the reason why we fly it clear: We fly it on Confederate Memorial Day to honor the service and sacrifice of the Confederate soldiers. Please, let’s pass H-3588 to complete the compromise with clarity.

Take Down The Flag

Aug 12, 2008

Our little blog is getting some attention for H-3588.  There were 184 comments to the letter I wrote to Brad Warthen on July 18. I was a guest on the Charles Campbell Show on Aug 2.  The Goose Creek branch of the NAACP has republished some of my blog entries in their July and August newsletters.  Also in that August newsletter, they republished an article from the Goose Creek Gazette about my attending the Goose Creek branch meeting in July as a guest.

And yesterday my post Sowing Confusion and Reaping Division was excerpted in The State’s opinion section in a part called On S.C. Blogs.   What’s happening is that people are realizing that the best day to fly the Confederate flag is Confederate Memorial Day.  And that flying it every day is unnecessary and therefore inappropriate.  Probably the person who has said it best is Steve Spurrier, who said back in April 2007, “My opinion is we don’t need the Confederate flag at our Capitol.”

Southern Discomfort

Aug 5, 2008

Christopher Dickey has a story in Newsweek about a recent trip through the southern states: “Now this part of the country, where I have my deepest roots, feels raw again, its political emotions more exposed than they’ve been in decades.” Maybe we could pass the respectful and unifying bill H-3588 so we can salve the raw feelings. Thanks to notverybright and seeding spartanburg for pointing out this very interesting article.

They can’t see the nose on their face

July 31, 2008

Sen. McConnell and Rep. Harrell have proposed a new plan to “create a Knowledge Sector Council to brainstorm ways to foster young companies with good ideas and attract established high-tech firms.” Also, the plan is that:

Commerce would handle manufacturing, distribution and service jobs.
The Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism would handle the tourism industry.
And the South Carolina Research Authority would lead efforts in the emerging “knowledge sector.”

I think that one of the best – and most cost effective – ideas is to take down the Confederate flag with H-3588. I’ll tell you from personal experience, the people who like high tech and who have good ideas for high tech businesses are not going to be attracted to a state that appreciates neither diversity nor modernity.

Inspiring and Uninspiring Leadership

July 17, 2008

Gov. Sanford eloquently described the challenge we’re up against, how much the people of South Carolina are hurting, and how he has no interest or ability in either. 

“We have two and a half years (left) and we want to focus on things we think will have a big difference,” he said. “Everybody has a different perspective. It is a deeply dividing and complex issue that we’re not going to try and open and re-examine. Somebody is going to have to place a tremendous amount of political capital to pry open a compromise. This administration is not going to be doing that.”

The NAACP has targeted the film industry, and Lonnie Randolph insists that this action is not “mean spirited,” which was how Sen. Glenn McConnell described it.  Lonnie Randolph countered this characterization.

“Our history has never been mean,” he said. “We don’t do mean things. We don’t have a Confederate approach to solving problems. The NAACP is a civil rights and human rights organization.
“Never have we bombed, murdered, killed, or maimed anybody. Never held anybody hostage on a plantation. In 100 years, this organization has a history of promoting democracy for all human beings.”

Sen. Glenn McConnell thinks that he’s in touch with the mainstream of South Carolina, when he isn’t even in touch with his fellow legislators. Rep. Leon Howard, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, said, “It’s on the minds of a lot of lawmakers. We don’t think (the flag) should be there.” And the bill to take down the flag, H-3588, has seven sponsors.

State Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, the Senate president pro tempore, told The News that there is “no driving emotion (in the Legislature) that I know of to re-open” the 2000 compromise that moved the flag from the Statehouse dome. …
McConnell said that with the compromise and new concerns arising since then, “The mainstream has moved on.”

Moreover, Sen. McConnell laughs off the 2/3 requirement without explaining it properly. First of all, a simple majority can remove the 2/3 requirement. And second, the legislators override Gov. Sanford’s vetoes all the time, so even getting 2/3 is not really that big a hurdle.

He [Sen. McConnell] said it would take a two-thirds vote of the 46 senators to change the eight-year-old legislation “and we can barely get two-thirds on when to go to lunch.”

Clearly, Lonnie Randolph and Leon Howard are the ones interested in being in touch with people and inspiring them. As for Mark Sanford and Glenn McConnell, well, they have their own priorities that are independent of the people of South Carolina.

Historical Discussion of the CWSAB

July 16, 2008

The Charleston City Paper has an article discussing the 100 year and the 150 year commemorations of the Civil War:

In 1961, the war’s centennial led by Southern segregationists came to a dramatic head in Charleston with political fireworks over the juxtaposition of the Civil War and civil rights taking most of the attention away from the pomp and pageantry of the Fort Sumter reenactment.

Nearly 50 years later, South Carolina is hoping to make a better go of commemorating the Civil War without celebrating the bitter animosity it stood for. To that end, the state’s newly minted Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission is peopled with diverse heritage groups that represent the descendents of both Confederates and slaves.

Note that the Centennial Commission, led by John May, was the one that placed the Confederate flag atop the Statehouse dome in Columbia, SC.  Until 1961, the Confederate flag belonged to the Confederate soldiers.  In 1961, our state legislature took it away from them and placed it in the current political climate for their own purposes. 

In my opinion, passing H-3588 can return the Confederate flag to the Confederate soldiers and provide for respectful annual commermorations of their service and sacrifice.  Hopefully, this bill will be passed sometime between now and when the CWSAB (Civil War Sesquicentennial Advisory Board) completes its service on Dec 31, 2016. 

NAACP Plans to Renew SC Boycott

July 14-15, 2008

According to the AP, “The NAACP will step up its campaign against the flying of the Confederate battle flag on state grounds in South Carolina, a leader of the organization said.  Dennis Courtland Hayes, interim president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said at the civil rights group’s national convention that action plans are in the works and urged members to stay tuned for details.”  The Charleston Post and Courier also has the story.

Sesquicentennial Advisory Board

June 5, 2008

Senators McConnell, Courson, Vaughn, Knotts and Campsen have recently passed an interesting bill without Governor Sanford’s signature.  They have set up a Civil War Sesquicentennial Advisory Board (CWSAB) with 22 members.  The Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate each get to appoint two members to serve four-year terms.  Persons initially appointed by the Governor shall serve two-year terms, persons initially appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall serve four-year terms, and persons initially appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall serve six-year terms. 

Fascinating to see who has the power, eh?

I think many of you know the story of how the Confederate flag got to be raised on the dome.  Here’s a link to the story.  An excerpt: Daniel Hollis said, “I was the only Civil War historian. There were three UDC girls on it, and John May was chairman. May was a state representative from Aiken. He called himself `Mr. Confederacy’ and wore a Confederate uniform to our meetings.”  Here’s another link – to the description in Rally ‘Round the Flag Boys by K. Michael Prince.  An excerpt: “It is also interesting to note that whereas the original stationery bore only a version of the South Carolina state seal in its letterhead, the Confederate War Commission soon adopted a letterhead that bore not only the state flag but also the rectangular version of the Southern Cross flag.  It was a kind of flag-raising in miniature that foreshadowed the flag-raising over the capitol that soon followed.”

The 16 other members are required by the law to be the Director of the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism; Superintendent of the State Department of Education; Director of the South Carolina State Museum; Director of the Confederate Relic Room and Museum; Director of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History; Director of the South Carolina Historical Society; Director of the South Caroliniana Library; Chairman of the African American Heritage Commission; Director of the Avery Research Center; President of the Sons of Confederate Veterans; President of the United Daughters of the Confederacy; Superintendent of the Fort Sumter National Monument; Colonel of the South Carolina Battalion; Executive Director of Patriots Point; Director of the Penn Center, Inc.; and Chairman of the War Between the States Heritage Commission.  Here’s a link about the inclusion of the Penn Center.

So the good news is that people will be talking openly about the Civil War and about the Confederate flag.  Maybe we’ll have a chance to finally get the Confederate flag taken down from where it flies on Statehouse grounds.  The sesquicentennial will be from 2011 – 2015, and the CWSAB will file a final report on or before Dec 31, 2016, which is the date of the expiration of the CWSAB.  Let’s make sure this time that anything that today’s Mr. Confederate (Sen. McConnell) does that’s wrong is taken down when the Sesquicentennial is over.  These guys can be sneaky, so we’ve got to watch them!  And sometime between now and Dec 31, 2016, let’s get or some new “take down the flag” bill signed into law!  We can do it!