WE WON! Nikki Haley said there would be no winners. No Losers. She was wrong. All of South Carolina has won a state that will be a little closer to accepting and celebrating our beautiful diversity.
As for her motives, she wants to come down on the right side of this issue historically - as she has been on the wrong side all along. It couldn't be clearer that the flag would come down fairly soon. The momentum has shifted that way. Even a few Republicans have been starting a movement to get it off the statehouse grounds. By making her announcement today, Governor Haley gets to look like a real "take charge" leader, someone who is compassionate and in touch with the people and the issues.
This is from SALON.com on October 14th of last year.
Nikki Haley: It's OK to have the Confederate flag at the statehouse because not "a single CEO" has complained
Republican Gov. Nikki Haley defended the Confederate flag’s presence on South Carolina’s statehouse grounds, declaring in a debate Tuesday that the flag isn’t an issue because “not a single CEO” has complained about it.
Parting ways with Democratic challenger Vincent Sheheen, who called for the flag’s removal, Haley acknowledged that the flag was a “sensitive issue” but rejected the notion of removing it.
“What I can tell you is over the last three and a half years, I spent a lot of my days on the phones with CEOs and recruiting jobs to this state,” Haley said. “I can honestly say I have not had one conversation with a single CEO about the Confederate flag.”
Conceding that South Carolina had suffered an image problem in the past, Haley asserted that the state had moved beyond those days.
It is crushingly sad to know that it had to take something so tragic as the murders at the Emanuel AME Church to inspire this change.
I'll post more of the pictures I took at the rally to bring down the flag at the Statehouse on Saturday.
We won, you guys. WE WON!
3 comments:
May it stay up forever as a symbol of State's Rights and the ability of the individual quest for liberty. May the forces of emotion and lack of comprehension fail. May our families always be remembered for taking a stand against tyranny in those days.
I firmly disagree - let it fly.
Tim, With my drawn out move I have not had the time to stay current with most things. So, I've just read your posts, and thought I'd contribute a thought or two. Here goes:
1. Flying the Confederate banner anywhere is as egregious as flying a Nazi flag in Skokie (a heavily Jewish community in Chicago).
2. My great grandfather fought for the south. I am proud of him, but also conflicted. Personal bravery is laudable...though the reasons for his fight are often at conflict. He was not a slave owner. Most German soldiers were not registered Nazi party members either, but they, like rebel soldiers, fought to perpetuate a clear and blatant evil. That flag is history, and will remain so...but it has no place on a civil flagpole. My dad returned from WWII with a swastika flag...which he placed in a locked chest, never again to taste moving breeze. So should not the Confederate banner, in any form (license plate et.al).
3. With the conclusion of any war, and the capitulation of enemy troops, every enemy flag is to be furled and surrendered to the victors. That is true whether the battle was with King George or Jefferson Davis. Lee refused to wear his uniform after returning to civilian life. At military parades he refused to walk in step with the formation. He strongly urged his surrendered army to restore themselves under "the old flag," and be loyal citizens to a renewed union. The flag has to remain furled. Consign it to a museum, which is now its only proper home.
Thank you for your posts and photos. You have a way of capturing life with shutter and word. I love reading your blog...but you, sir, are far from the "ordinary." I am with the ordinary all the time, every day. And you ain't it.
``` jim
You know that darn flag had its resurgence at the passing of civil rights legislation. It wasn't a problem for the first 100 years after the Civil War ended. It is a symbol of the very worst of America, then and now. Thank you.
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