The South Carolina Confederate Flag has been a recent issue in the Presidential debates. It is a simply question: should the Confederate flag be removed from the SC Capitol Building?
(Don’t tell me it’s up to people in that state, or it’s up to the fed. government. I want a straight answer. If you personally could have influence, what would you do?)
R.J.D.
Yes, it should be removed.
I know you said not to say this, but it IS up to the people of the state. There should be a vote, and then the next time some special interest group comes knocking, the SC govt. can just say, “sorry, it’s what the people want.”
A hush fell over the courtroom, killing six.
Nope, they should keep it up. Let me explain …
To paraphrase, “It’s better to keep quiet and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” Applied to flags, that roughly means “Lest you think S.C. is a progressive state that has welcomed the 20th century with open arms, just look up out flagpole and see what’s fluttering in the breeze.”
Put another way, I’m saying that groups should be judged by their actions. They don’t have to take it down, and you don’t have to like it.
My 2.5 cents.
“Now you pissed me off. You and I? We’re NEVER gonna be friends.”
While I do agree that it is up to the people of South Carolina, I also know that if it were up to me, the flag would come down. No matter how the pro-flag partisans try to dodge the issue, the flag represents slavery to millions of black people (and some white people, but thsy don’t have as much of an ancestral stake in it.) To me, it also represents divisiveness leading to bloodshed, and is this what you really want flyng over your state capitol? I say take it down, but like I said, if they vote to keep it up, then I’ll just be content to snicker at them.
An infinite number of rednecks in an infinite number of pickup trucks shooting an infinite number of shotguns at an infinite number of road signs will eventually produce all the world’s great works of literature in Braille.
I believe that it should come down. plain and simple.
knuckle-dragging hose mongerer.
SDMB Self-Righteous Clique
I live in Virginia, the people here have pride in their flag and think it symbolizes freedom/history and keeps niggers away. (well! I don’t care about it, but about half the population here does.
I’ve read two very different versions of why it was put up there in the first place:
“The flag was hoisted in 1962 to commemorate the Civil War centennial, but state lawmakers failed to specify when it should come down.”
and
“The Confederate flag actually was hoisted over the state capitol in 1962 as a demonstration of defiance against pressures for racial integration.”
If it went up for the War centennial, just how long does this centennial celebration last - until 2062? That’s some party.
If it was a protest against integration - kinda lost that one, didn’t they?
Either way, I’d say it’s time to take it down.
If they’d been really clever, they’d have incorporated the Stars and Bars into their state flag like Georgia and Miss
There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not a man.
If life were always like this…if they took your guns and left this stuff…we’d live a lot better.
The way I see it, any country can claim any piece of land. But if that country cannot protect it’s “territory” from other countries, it never owned it in the first place.
R.J.D.
Please note that the poster above from Virginia, entitled to his/her own opinions to be sure, DOES NOT speak for the rest of it’s citizens.
Sheesh.
Be gentle with all, but firm with yourself.
Don’t mind me. I’m just hanging out here, waiting for the first Limey to pop in and claim the entire United States as British territory 
Coldfire
Voted Poster Most Likely To Post Drunk
"You know how complex women are"
I would leave it up there, but in a compromise that would appeal to Blacks:
I would add another banner–one showing a couple of Black guys strangling a redneck with a Confederate Flag.
That way, everyone would be happy.
If the Confederate flags over state capitals is supposed to honor their history, they should be replaced with the official Confererate flag. These states are flying the Conferderate battle flag, not the offical Confederate flag.
Flying the battle flag is a minor jab at the federal government. It is not intended to honor the Confederacy. Many southern states started flying them in the 1960’s when, once again, the federal government imposed its will on the states.
To honor the Confereracy, use the official flag. To “fight” the federal government and its reforms, use the battle flag.
I understand how the flag can be viewed as offensive. But let’s not throw away our history and forget where we came from. Let’s celebrate the flag and view it as a milestone of how far we, as a country, have come. Afterall, once your children blossom into beautiful adults you don’t take pictures of them in their awkward childhood stages down from your wall do you?
IIRC there was a vote on it and the people in SC decided to leave it. This was a debate topic over in GD and someone from SC stated there that a vote had been taken on this in one of their elections. I could be wrong. I say leave it alone. When did this become such a big issue? It’s not like they just started flying the flag last week. The governor has already said if they take it down they will just move it to another place. They won’t stop flying it. And yes I understant it’s a lot to do with where they are flying it, but seems to me that if it’s wrong to fly it once place it’s just as wrong to fly it another.
I’ve learned that if someone says something unkind about me, I must live so that no one will believe it.
Absolutely. I am so damned sick of people referring to the battle flag as the “Confederate flag.” Even after it has been pointed out to them a jillion damn times. If the Confederate flag (any of them) was flown, none of the people who scream the loudest would even recognize the thing for what it is.
I’m still angry. Remember, damnitall, the flag in question is the battle flag, not the Confederate flag. Say it slowly: It is not the Confederate flag. It is the battle flag.
If it is never flown again, will all rememberances of slavery fade from our minds?
Will history actually be modified so that slavery never existed?
An old girlfriend of mine lost both arms in an industrial accident. She is horribly offended by statues of the Venus De Milo–lets get rid of those damn statues so that she doesn’t have to be reminded that she once had arms. (This is a lie, for the record)
Ok, this notion about remembering our past-- sure. BUT a state flag is a statement of real notions of philosophical belief and right and wrong, so a SC flag might ideally symbolize what they really consider important-- liberty, or truth, or freedom, whatever. IF the theme that you want to officially sanction is symbolized by the battle flag, ok keep it, but be straightforward about what it signifies. If it is there “to remember the past”, then it should be in a museum in context, not put up as an naturalized and official symbol. Otherwise we might as well have a influenza-ridden trade blanket instead of an eagle on the seal, or have a bank holiday to celebrate the Kent State riots. Does this difference in significance make sense? The difference between a historical rememberance and a officially sanctioned inspirational symbol?
(OP- yes it should come down)
We had this issue a few years ago in Georgia, and by the letters to the editor in the Journal, I thought for sure the vote would be for changing the flag. Boy, was I wrong!
This comes down to whether people care enough to want to be inclusive or exclusive. Rather than standing on the pretense (or not) of holding onto the history of something that was just a symbol. Why not look ahead to what you want to be, and travel THAT road instead. Changing the flag won’t make anywhere a better place, but the people who care enough to give consideration to others, THAT is what makes a place somewhere you could envision living.
I’d like to see this issue come up again in Georgia, and that we would be more excited about where we’re going, rather than cling to something divisive about where we’ve been.
So, it would be great to see the South Carolina flag made to represent the WHOLE state, and then, Georgia hop on that bandwagon too.
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