DP–you are correct. People were being bussed in from as far north as Maryland, and as far south as Florida.
So if they weren’t citizens of SC, they shouldn’t have anything to say about it?
Precisely.
Actually residents is the word you want to use. Article 4, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution says: “The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.” which means that we are all citizens of all 50 states, but residents of only one.
So none of us has nothing to say about it unless South Carolina is the state of our residence. And I agree with Sequent. It’s a big noise over nothing. It’s election year posturing, and making a big scene over doing the most trivial thing. Because in politics it’s much more important to LOOK like you’re doing something than it is to actually DO something.
To me, the problem is small, if we’re talking about whether the flag flies or not, and enormous when we look at it for its symbolism. Many of us interpret the flag issue as a proxy for an attitude that says, “Damn right, I’m a bigot, and no one’s going to get me to change.” Now, that attitude is what lies behind a lot of the acts and inaction that we call prejudicial or bigoted or racist. So the flag issue is not, in itself, such a big deal, but it sure represents something huge in America.
Folks, the factual OP received an answer. If you want to debate it, debate it. Great Debates apparently not having had a sufficient number of threads dedicated to this issue, I’ll move this one over there, too.
Right, it’s part of a BIG problem. This is how best to describe it: How can I look like I’m doing something and get tons of publicity while not actually doing anything to jeopardise my spot in the legislature? The Flag! Bingo!
It goes something like that, while each year the number young black men killed by violence goes up. That’s the thing you should address first, not whether or not a piece of cloth or a song inspires hatred. If we shape ourselves up, the symbols will change too.