# Breaking ''news'': Protester torches SC Confederate flag **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 17, 2002, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-protester-torches-sc-confederate-flag/104179 "2002-04-17T17:40:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-protester-torches-sc-confederate-flag/104179/1 "2002-04-17T17:40:37Z")
I have just returned from my lunchtime stroll, where I saw an African-American man–dressed in a black Santa suit (so it appeared)–on a ladder leaning against the flagpole which had previously held the notable banner. He had climbed it the ladder, torched the flag, and was calling to the crowd rapidly assembling–which included a number of state troopers–“Call the po-leece. I’ve done my job.” Ya heard it here first. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-protester-torches-sc-confederate-flag/104179/2 "2002-04-17T17:50:10Z")
How does a “black Santa suit” differ from a “Santa suit” ? ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-protester-torches-sc-confederate-flag/104179/3 "2002-04-17T17:52:29Z")
I think he meant a black (santa suit), not a (black santa) suit. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-protester-torches-sc-confederate-flag/104179/4 "2002-04-17T18:09:20Z")
Bravo! Was this crusader for all that is good and American arrested or will he remain anonymous? ---
**Author:** ![pbrtallboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f475e1/32.png) [@pbrtallboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbrtallboy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-protester-torches-sc-confederate-flag/104179/5 "2002-04-17T18:24:06Z")
Look away, Dixieland! ---
**Author:** ![Skerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Skerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skerri)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-protester-torches-sc-confederate-flag/104179/6 "2002-04-17T18:25:41Z")
Well, all I can say is thank goodness it was the flag made of cotton-poly blend, as the polyester flag would have made a nasty smell. Does this mean we can quit fighting about this thing now? It’s gone, let it rest, for pete’s sake! Skerri, who never wanted the darn thing up, anyways… ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-protester-torches-sc-confederate-flag/104179/7 "2002-04-17T19:39:08Z")
Are we talking about the Confederate flag on the grounds of the SC statehouse? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-protester-torches-sc-confederate-flag/104179/8 "2002-04-17T19:56:11Z")
This is not the first time the flag has been removed. A few years ago, while it was still flying above the State House, one of the guys involved with the renovations took it down. Since then, one chap who walks around the grounds protesting the flag goes by the name of “The Reverend E. Slave.” He wears chains, and carries a sign stating, among other things, that donations can be made to his church, the address being listed as a PO Box. And, for only $5 he’ll let you take a picture of him with the flag in the background. I don’t know if this was done by the good Rev, though. It was kinda hard to make out his face with his Santa Claus hat constantly slipping over it. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-protester-torches-sc-confederate-flag/104179/9 "2002-04-17T22:27:19Z")
Okay, I’ll bite. Why Santa Claus? ---
**Author:** ![sidle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@sidle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidle)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-protester-torches-sc-confederate-flag/104179/10 "2002-04-18T01:57:36Z")
Is this for real? If so, hallelujah. I am so tired of all the bickering, and the boycott that actually isn’t a boycott, and those who oppose the boycott, and those who oppose them, ad infinitum. I think Skerri speaks for a lot of us around here. If it offends someone, take it down. Something flying atop the Statehouse should represent everyone in the state, or be removed. I know, of course, that that statement opens a can of worms, and that _anyone_ can be offended by _anything_, but honestly, this particular issue is just silly, and wasted way too many people’s time. That flag is not _currently_ relevant to anyone here, and it should have been put into a museum a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-protester-torches-sc-confederate-flag/104179/11 "2002-04-18T02:20:13Z")
It is an official goverment building, and the flags that fly above it should represent the governments of the people. It should have been taken down from the Statehouse solely on those merits. Having it on Government ground may and does offend a significant portion of the population, and they have the right to protest. The removal of the flag from the Statehouse met the demands of the NAACP as written in their paperwork to the state (I have document on my work computer). I grew up in SC, and I feel better it is down, I am embarrassed at the circumstances surrounding it’s placement in the 60’s. It was racially motivated. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-protester-torches-sc-confederate-flag/104179/12 "2002-04-18T13:53:12Z")
The identity was indeed confirmed as “The Reverend E. Slave,” a fellow who’s had some minor brushes with the law like DUI and bad checks. Some other things he said yesterday: “AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH–you broke my shoulder” after he had been patted down and was being cuffed. “AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH” every time they touched him while he was being patted down. “Call the guvnah” “Call [AG] Charlie Condon.” “Call the NAACP.” “Call an am-byoo-lance.” (This was after his “broken shoulder” and other “injuries” suffered at the hands of the police.) ---
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-protester-torches-sc-confederate-flag/104179/13 "2002-04-18T21:52:39Z")
[http://www.wcbd.com/MGBCWUPP50D.html](http://www.wcbd.com/MGBCWUPP50D.html) A Black (Santa Suit) indeed… it was even reported that way.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-protester-torches-sc-confederate-flag/104179/14 "2002-04-19T00:43:50Z")
Good for him!