Poor Ted Pitts. My House representative wasn’t in the Legislature when this issue was raging before. So he made the mistake of speaking candidly with me about the Confederate flag, and I wrote about it, and he found out how much sound and fury it can generate. I just got this letter from him:
Dear Editor,
Recently an editorial [my column of April 22] was published by Brad Warthen that
included remarks from a phone conversation he and I had regarding the
Confederate Flag. I agreed with the point he made in a column that
outsiders can not move or remove the flag and the issue will be decided by South
Carolinians. There was an impression given to some that I was leading a charge
to take down the Flag from behind the Confederate monument which is not the
case.I am elected to discuss, develop opinions and try
to improve things in our State. This includes education, healthcare, economic
development and anything the people of South Carolina want their elected
representatives to deal with. This list currently includes the Confederate flag
that flies in front of the Statehouse. Some say I should avoid the topic all
together but that is not what I feel I was elected to do. I have always found
the dynamics of the flag topic to be very interesting and never really felt like
I had a dog in that fight.Since Mr. Warthen’s editorial I have gotten a crash
course on the Flag, the Confederate Monument and the tremendous efforts that
were undertaken to arrive at a compromise. I have spoken to constituents,
legislators past and present, people of all races, business interests, long-time
South Carolinians and new residents of our state about the Flag and will
continue to do so.The Confederate Monument is one of many on the
statehouse grounds including an African-American monument that was built as a
result of the compromise. I was not a member of the General Assembly when the
flag came off the dome and out of the Senate and House Chambers; but as a South
Carolinian I supported moving the Flag and now as a member of the SC House I
support honoring the compromise.
Sincerely,
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If Pitts wasn’t in a coma for the past decade; or, on an extended submarine cruise; or, on top of a mountain in Nepal then he’s not bright enough to vote on bills affecting South Carolinians.
Come to think of it, if he’s that clueless, then– no matter WHERE he was– he shouldn’t access to weapons or sharp instruments.
Ted’s a good guy. He and I disagree about whether the compromise is acceptable, but he’s a good guy. I’m sorry he’s getting so much flak just because he spoke with me frankly, rather than being a stone wall about it, the way the Legislature as a whole has been.
Could it be because the Legislature as a whole doesn’t really give a damn what you think?
Do those who want to void the compromise and remove the Confederate flag entirely, also want to remove the African-American monument which was constructed as a trade for moving the flag to its compromise location?
Why don’t YOU suggest that option, Lee.
You obviously don’t think that African-Americans deserve the same recognition as Confederate vets have had for decades on the statehouse grounds.
The rebel flag was flying illegitimately above the statehouse since at least 1965. Taking it down shouldn’t have required flying it elsewhere.
At least, you’d be honest in your position if you advocated refusing to recognize the contributions of black South Carolinians while insisting on flying the banner of slavery.
Not to correct anyone on their points but the African American History Monument. The monument on the Statehouse grounds was not a result of the Flag Compromise of 2000.
The planning for the African American History Monument began six years earlier in 1994 when the first and most “cooperative” effort to move the flag began and ended with the South Carolina Heritage Act which saw no meaningful action.
However, seed money for the African American History Monument was secured that year by a group of now extremely powerful members of the General Assembly through the South Carolina Rural Development Act under the guideline that the rest of the funds be raised from private sources and that the goverment funds not be released until (n) percent had been raised.
I just didn’t want people to think that the African American History Monument was a soupbone tossed out at the blacks to get them to go along with letting the confederate flag flying out front of the big house.
Not to correct anyone on their points but the African American History Monument. The monument on the Statehouse grounds was not a result of the Flag Compromise of 2000.
The planning for the African American History Monument began six years earlier in 1994 when the first and most “cooperative” effort to move the flag began and ended with the South Carolina Heritage Act which saw no meaningful action.
However, seed money for the African American History Monument was secured that year by a group of now extremely powerful members of the General Assembly through the South Carolina Rural Development Act under the guideline that the rest of the funds be raised from private sources and that the goverment funds not be released until (n) percent had been raised.
I just didn’t want people to think that the African American History Monument was a soupbone tossed out at the blacks to get them to go along with letting the confederate flag flying out front of the big house.
I am not arguing that the flag should have stayed on the capitol dome, or should stay at the monument. I am merely trying to ask questions about motives and complete agendas of some of those who want to remove the flag, remove monuments, rename streets, and remove the teaching of much of the history of the state from public schools.
Along the way, that seems to require a lot of remedial education on the actual facts, which do not support some of the narrow views and mythology of various people who want to suppress the historical culture of the state.
Conspicuously absent from the demands of these people are any real arguments with reasons why their agenda should be adopted. They talk in one-line outbursts of facts which may or may not be relevant, in addition to a lot of inaccurate assertions. Simply saying that, “The flag represents slavery”, or that “the KKK uses the flag”, and “it might hurt recruitment of industry”, are not, in and of themselves, any argument to remove it from public view. They MIGHT be reasons that are part of an argument that has not yet been formulated and expressed.
What “moderate” ignores is that flying the flag there is stupid and pointless — unless the point is to bug people. And what is more likely to bug people than by doing something that is so stupid and pointless that everyone knows it could have no other purpose than to bug them?
You really don’t have to have an opinion about slavery, or the economy, or the KKK or the Nazis, or any of that. There is simply no good reason for it to be there. In any rational scheme, the burden would be on those who wanted to do something this odd, this ahistorical, this gratuitous. But the burden isn’t on them. In fact, the force of law is entirely on their side, and requires a 2/3 vote of the Legislature for anything ELSE to happen.
Why does South Carolina trail behind the rest of the nation by so many measurements? Because we’re the kind of people who would turn common sense on its head by doing something like this.
As for the bogus red herring that flag defenders keep bringing up — “remove monuments, rename streets, and remove the teaching of much of the history of the state from public schools” — I can only say two things.
First, if we ever talk about those things here, I’ll e-mail you so you won’t miss it. But those are NOT what we’re talking about here.
Second: What do you think is being taught in public schools now? If it fits with the thinking of people who believe that flying that flag on our shared lawn is a great idea, maybe we all ought to go investigate the textbooks. If this kind of wild and crazy thinking is coming from the schools, we need to put a stop to it immediately.
>If it fits with the thinking of people who
>believe that flying that flag on our
>shared lawn is a great idea, maybe we all
>ought to go investigate the textbooks.
The editor/censor now wants to purge textbooks of any discussion of the issue unless it matches his own. Interesting.
So Mr. Warthen cannot come up with any reasons to remove the flag, other than than “it is stupid”, and “there is no reason to fly it”.
Well, there are reasons to fly it, but I guess he just dismisses those, rather than debating them.
There are a lot more useless symbols that really have no useful purpose, like gang tatoos and illegal immigrants waving Mexican flags in the faces of law enforcement. Does lawlessness and gang activity help the state’s image and its recruitment of industry and commerce? I think not. So why don’t the news crusaders attack a real problem?
Have to agree with Moderate Guy… I’m no big fan of the flag on the statehouse grounds but my distaste for the flag is miniscule compared to watching thousands of ILLEGAL ALIENS attempting to circumvent our immigration policies and demanding citizenship via threats and protests. And observing politicians like George Bush bending over backwards to ignore THE LAWS he was sworn to uphold is reprehensible. Bush’s welcome mat will do more harm to South Carolina’s economy than any flag boycott ever will.
Brad Warthen
“There is simply no good reason for it to be there.”
It is placed at a Memorial to the Confederate dead of South Carolina.
Get it?- Confederate Flag – Confederate Memorial
The solution to the flag issue is simple: let the rightful heirs own and control the use. Let the Sons of Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy license the proper use of the flag.
The flag was treated with honor and respect, even by Yankee veterans and their children and grandchildren, until it was misappropriated in the 1950s by the KKK, motorcycle gangs and now by some neo-Nazis. That misuse has spawned a reactionary backlash by some blacks and whites who hate nothing worse than being embarassed.
The only problem is that the liberal judges have created out of thin air some bogus rights of “expression”, which permit a handful of anti-social people misuse the Confederate flag, American flag, the Cross, the Star of David, and anything else that stands for something honorable.
Why don’t you liberals come up with a solution to what your team broke?
I’ll let some of the “liberals” who hang out here address that; I can’t speak for them.
I will turn instead to the burning issue of the moment: Are the Messrs. Guy — Moderate and Some Other — related?
Brad
Again. When will you respond to a fair question? If the flag comes down, do you favor moving the monument?
ANSWER ME DAMMIT!
Brad asks the question,” Why does SC trail behind the rest of the nation by so many measurements”. Simple. You clowns spend all your time and energy trying to take down a flag on a Confederate monument.
I don’t post as Some Other Guy, but the point is that none of those who want to take down the flag will even attempt to argue why. They just do. Some throw out a one-liner about this or that, without attempting to link it with any other thoughts on the subject.
And none of them will put their entire agendas on the table regarding the removal of monuments, cancellation of holidays and public commemorations, renaming of streets, schools and counties, and rewriting of history.
Moderate guy- I offered a solution, but did you respond?
Why not honor ALL OF THE DEAD?
Do you care to honor ALL SOUTH CAROLINIANS?
let’s include the colonial loyalists and Native Americans. They all deserve monuments. King Charles needs a statue too.
Or do you have a problem when Confederates are justifiably compared to Loyalists?
Let’s see, what it is now? Are there some 29 unrecognized native tribes in our state?
Can we take a few moments to offer them a small pittance for stealing their lands?
Ronald, Given that Brad previously mentioned that the monument was ORIGINALLY installed in Elmwood Cemetery, is there something particularly wrong with putting it back in the location where those who paid for it intended?
I feel no obligation to build monuments to out enemies, nor to groups of little accomplishment or historical note.
The monument to the Confederate dead was originally at Elmwood because it was primarily a Confederate cemetary, sitting at the end of Confederate Avenue, where sat the Veterans’ Home until the last ones passed away. As the neighborhood and cemetary changed, it became appropriate to move the monument to a more permanent and historical location, overlooking the city burned by Sherman.
All,
We as a people in a civil democratic society should, from time to time, review whether our statues, memorials, signs, etc. are appropriate — in substance, display, and location. That is what Steve Spurrier, the NAACP, Brad Warthen and others are calling for — a review of the Confederate Memorial to determine whether or not the Confederate flag should remain flying on the flagpole there at the memorial on the Statehouse grounds. Reviews are good and appropriate and should happen from time to time. For example, Philadelphia moved Rocky.
We’re talking about the Confederate Memorial, but some people keep changing the subject to the African-American Memorial. Well, start your own blog or movement or whatever if you want. As for me, the African-American memorial seems perfect as it is and where it is. And I don’t see why we need to have an attitude of “one of ours” for “one of theirs,” and I don’t even know what that means because we are all citizens and all of the monuments/memorials belong to all of us — they’re all ours.
Now, returning to our current topic, in our review of the Confederate Memorial: Is there anything inappropriate about it in substance, display, or location? Well, that the Memorial flies a flag seems odd to me. Does every Memorial fly a flag — should every Memorial fly some flag? Hmm.
Well, a flag is about living and about current governments, especially when the flag is flying. Hmm. How should we memorialize the Confederate soldiers — by waving a flag in their face telling them that they failed to get the government they wanted and that they died in vain? Hmm, you know, maybe flying the flag at the Confederate Memorial doesn’t actually serve the purpose of the Confederate Memorial.
Maybe we should have a commission to review the Confederate Memorial. We should invite artists, sculptors, historians, and politicians to review the Memorial and determine what should be added to it and what should be taken away from it and whether or not it should be moved. The commission could have open hearings where the people (all of us) discuss our views and the findings of the commission.
I mean, there are protocols for such things — a language for memorials. A statue of a person on a horse, where the horse has two legs in the air sends a different message compared to when the horse has all hooves on the ground. Artists, sculptors and historians know all about this language of memorials. What do they think about having the Confederate flag flying from a flagpole at the Confederate Memorial on the Statehouse grounds? We need a review.
I hope the conclusion is that the flag gets sent to a museuum, because I don’t think that flying the Confederate flag sends the proper message for the Confederate Memorial.
What do you think? Think and write about it — would you change anything about the Confederate Memorial to make it bigger, smaller, whatever. The flag has not always been there, and, currently the flag is not mentioned in the description of the monument on the statehouse website.
http://www.scstatehouse.net/studentpage/rebmon.htm
Regards,
Michael Rodgers
Columbia
For me, the most important thing is the way the flag got up on top of the Statehouse to begin with. Georgia incorporated the Confederate flag in their state flag as an admitted stance against the Civil Rights Movement. Then, soon after, the Confederate Battle Flag was put up on top of the SC Statehouse.
If you think that was a coincidence, then you must not know either people or history very well. It was racism, pure and simple. We should all be adults and call it like it is. A pig wearing a pearl necklace is still a pig.
We do a great disservice to the children of South Carolina by teaching them that it is OK for the Confederate flag to fly on government property.
The best example of this is the Borat kids. Why shouldn’t they spout racism when after a night of underage drinking at Five Points, they drive home past that Confederate flag in front of the Statehouse?
Cheers,
Steve Lough – Camden
The Confederate Flag and the United States Flag are judged by different standards and criteria, and are not held to the same levels of accountability. In analytical science and weights and measures, comparisons are made against known standards. However, in politics comparisons are never made in a fair and impartial manner.
In order to understand the hypocrisy, ignorance, and bias that have been directed against the Confederate Flag, it is necessary to use the U.S. Flag (Stars and Stripes) as a standard of comparison. The purpose of this comparison is not to berate or disparage the U.S. Flag, but rather to prove that the Confederate Flag has received unfair and unequal treatment.
The genocide and racial cleansing of the American Indians took place under the U.S. Flag. The U.S. Flag flew over an unconstitutional and criminal war conducted against The Confederate States of America. Abraham Lincoln conducted this war for the benefit of wealthy Northern industrialists. Slaves were imported from Africa to America primarily by five Northern States: NY.,MA.,CT.,NH.,and RI. The Confederate Flag was not involved. The U.S. flag flew over the concentration camp incarceration of loyal Japanese citizens during WWII while some of their sons, husbands, and brothers fought and died for America as American soldiers. The U.S. flag flew as part of Allied WWII raids that firebombed Dresden Germany which was a cultural and population center and not involved in the war effort. Thousands of innocent children were burned alive. The official flag of the KKK is the U.S. flag. Finally, the U.S. Flag flies over a nation that has murdered an estimated 50 million babies by abortion.
Political Correctness has been used to attempt bans of The Confederate Flag from schools, parades, public and private property, and even historical monuments and sites.
The Confederate flag represents Constitutional Limited Federal Government, States Rights, Resistance to Government Tyranny, and Christian Values and Principles. These are the principles America was founded upon. To say that it represents racism and bigotry is a negative and shallow interpretation comparable to saying the U.S. flag represents the genocide of the American Indians and abortion. Both flags should be respected for positive reasons.
Contact me at [email protected] to request my article “The 10 Causes Of The Civil War”.