The company I work for recently cancelled a quarterly meeting that was scheduled for Charleston and rescheduled it for Baltimore. Their basis for doing so was the well-known flag issue.
Darn. I would’ve like to have seen Charleston. I hear it’s pretty nice. (Not to dis Baltimore, but I’ve been there already, and I wanted to see a new city.)
My company (a huge financial/travel/credit company–can you guess?) has stated that, as a firm, it is also actively dissuading business operations from taking place in SC.
Hm. Is that helping, or does that adversely affect those who are trying to get that flag removed? It’s not the legislators that are being affected by this; it’s the employees of the hotels, restaurants, etc., that are losing out. (Well, the government loses some tax money–granted.)
I commend my company’s stance, but I keep thinking that South Carolinians should be allowed to determine their own position on the flag issue.
I’d be interested in reading your thoughts on this.
I think your company probably just used the flag issue as an excuse. It’s not that big a deal. The governor said if they are made to take the flag down they’ll just move it somewhere else on state grounds. Charleston is one of the prettiest places you could ever see…they still have the pastel stucco homes from the old southern days. You would love it. I think that if someone wants to go somewhere…a flag issue isn’t gonna stop them. SC won’t suffer that much from it. People act like southerners fly the confederate flag from every home…actually you see very few of them in the south. I think this has just pissed off some people in SC with everyone telling them where they should fly the flag. It will die down and the flag…if taken down at some point…will just be discreetly put back up later.
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As a South Carolinian, I agree that we should be able to determine the flying or not flying of the Confederate flag.
The argument here in the state seems largely predicated on whose perception of the public’s “wishes” is correct. Several recent polls have said that approx. 60% want it off the Capitol dome; the percentage goes up when people are asked if they want it taken down from the dome and “put in a place of honor” on the Capitol grounds. Dozens of groups, such as city councils, university boards of trustees, and private organizations throughout the state have asked for the flag to come down, for precisely the reasons you mention–that the state’s economy is being hurt, but more specifically those who make their livings through tourism, etc.
The legislature, however, includes a good many people who identify themselves with “heritage.” Many of them claim that those who want the flag down really want to bury every trace of SC’s Confederate past. They have also pointed out that (I think this is correct) the Republicans’ last primary election included a referendum on the flag, in which 77% voted to keep it up. Thus, most SC citizens want it up. Never mind the extremely small percentages who usually vote in primaries, and the fact that not everyone here is a Republican.
Thus some legislators have rejected many compromises which, to me, have seemed eminently reasonable. I have also heard them say that they wouldn’t be quite so opposed to taking it down, but that the NAACP boycott should not be “rewarded” by doing so.
On Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday we had one of the largest gatherings ever at our state house rallying against the flag. The “heritage” forces have claimed that this group was 95% black, mostly from out of state, etc. and therefore not representative.
I am a history graduate student, and I don’t think I lack respect for history. But in my humble opinion, the flag should not be there. The citizens of this state, honestly, are so sick of this topic that I think most of us just wish it would be resolved.