As one is prone to do when writing fast, I left some things out of the previous rant about the Confederate Battle Flag, Heritage of Hate. First, the powers that be in Columbia should not move the flag because of the NAACP boycott. Let me repeat that. The powers that be in Columbia should not move the flag because of the NAACP boycott. The powers that be in Columbia should move the flag because it is the right thing to do.

A number of my brothers and sisters in this state who may not have had an opinion about this issue six months ago now want to leave the flag up because of the boycott. They're of the mind that because the NAACP have us "over a barrel" that we should do the opposite. They think this mainly because they're fucking morons. Kinda like when my mother told me to clean my room and instead, I went outside and shoot hoops in the driveway. There is a stupid rebellious punk ass brat in all of us.

Now I want to address some things I heard on WBT's Spiers and Krantz show on this issue last week. One is that the NAACP is nothing more than a black version of the KKK. Well, that is the dumbest shit I've heard since Pauly Shore lost to David Duchovny on "Celebrity Jeopardy." A quick question to see how alike the NAACP is to the KKK: How many white boys have hung from a tree, savagely beaten and murdered by a gang of blacks?

The NAACP is nothing like the KKK. The NAACP came about because of the KKK and the White Power Generation.

Other comments I hear:

"You tell them we'll take the flag down if they keep the boycott going." Redneck.

"I think the money we're saving on crime prevention more than makes up for any money we're losing from this boycott." Idiot.

And there's always the idiot redneck who prefaces his racist comment with some variation of the following: "Now I'm an educated suthrn..." pronounced as it's spelled, by the way. And then he goes on to say that the flag honors his ancestors. Fuck your ancestors, you hillbilly bastard. If you really want to honor those who came and went long before any of us were born, live your life right, treat others the way you want to be treated, and teach your children to respect and accept other's that aren't like them.

Come to think of it, is it right to honor those who fought an indecent and immoral war? Oh, by the way, we lost that war.

There are those, of course, who will argue the Civil War was not fought over slavery. They will tell you it was fought over state's rights. (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.) I'm not a Civil War historian and I don't want to be. The war was fought 140 years ago! Strom Thurmond was still in diapers for fuck's sake. Get over it! The war is over.
 

OK. Sorry. I got a little obnoxious there for a minute. But this flag issue has been flying way too long now. It may be almost over though. In a historic vote Wednesday night, the South Carolina Senate voted to lower the battle flag from the State House dome. Under the compromise, a different Confederate flag - square, with a white border, like the banners carried by the troops of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia - would be raised behind the Confederate soldiers' monument that sits in front of the State House.

Black lawmakers gave the most in the compromise, hammered out Tuesday night. Flag supporters had been talking for weeks about the soldiers' monument. But until this week, the monument site had been unacceptable to black legislators because of its location at one of Columbia's busiest intersections.

Sen. Darrell Jackson previously objected to the flag flying anywhere on the State House grounds. But he said Wednesday night he voted for the compromise because "we had to take a good hard look at what was ultimately best for South Carolina."

Black lawmakers had previously favored instead a proposal by Gov. Jim Hodges to fly the flag at another monument behind the capitol. Jackson said Wednesday night he has already gotten telephone messages from some black residents accusing him of selling out.

"I returned their message and said, `No, I'm saving the state of South Carolina,'" he said. (It's good to know we've got Mr. Jackson in the Senate. Otherwise, this state may just have folded and been invaded by Georgia or North Carolina.)

Hodges hailed the compromise in a statement Wednesday night.

"Senators joined across racial and party lines to pass this bill," he said. "I am encouraged by this broad support for a final resolution to this divisive issue. I will continue to work with the legislature as this bill moves to the House."

Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, the flag's most influential defender in the legislature, urged his colleagues to approve the compromise. He said there is great significance in the fact that April 12 is also the anniversary of the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in 1861, which began the war.

"It's going to fly at the soldiers' monument, where it probably should have gone in the first place," McConnell said. Lawmakers in 1962 put up the flag as part of the Civil War centennial and never took it down.

Of course, 1962 was also the peak of the Civil Rights Movement across the south east. Many people still feel that by flying the flag above the state house, a message was being sent to the movement, to all blacks in fact, that the good old boy network was alive and well and in power in South Carolina.

I hope this compromise flies. At first, I was undecided. If I had my way, I would climb up that pole, rip the damn flag down, set it on fire, then run with it through the streets of Columbia. In my opinion, having it in such a visible place on the Capitol grounds still reeks. But we need some closure to this debate. There are other issues that need addressing, such as South Carolina's ongoing lackluster efforts in education and the highway system. Isn't it time we move on?

Oh, and if this compromise isn't good enough for the NAACP, might I suggest a few other prime vacation spots? Virginia Beach is nice. Oh, and don't forget Florida. I've always wanted to go to Florida.

to my next rant (when posted)
The Joseph C. Hinson Home Page
My Rants and Raves

A lot of the information in this rant came from Henry Eichel's April 13th story on charlotte.com, 'Flag's move from dome now up to S.C. House.' "Heritage of Hate" also borrowed heavily from the same website, but I forget who wrote that article. The following quotes, etc. comes from The State, the biggest newspaper in South Carolina. (JCH)

Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston:

"The reality is something that I can never change . ... Our flag got abused. It got taken by politicians and used for racial causes. It got taken by hate groups and used for their causes. But that's not the long-term legacy of that flag.

"It is very difficult, extremely difficult, for us on our side to vote to move that flag. It has to be equally difficult for my brethren on the other side to vote with us to move it to the monument."
 

Former Gov. David Beasley, whose defeat for re-election in 1998 was attributed in part to his support for removing the flag from the Capitol dome, reached in Boston:

"That's good news for South Carolina. It seems like they came up with a good bill that will protect the heritage, honor the flag properly and resolve this issue once and for all.

"I think the stumbling block last time with me wasn't just the House. It was the Senate as well. We had the votes in the Senate. We just couldn't get past the fillibuster."

On the Senate compromise's prospects in the House:

"It's hard to say. There are some folks in the House that have really moderated or changed their perspectives about the issue since then. But there are also those who have dug in their heels even deeper.

"My thoughts are I'm hopeful the House will find some common ground and resolve this issue once and for all so the state will not continue to be ripped apart as it has or as it is now. Hopefully, this will be a most significant message, not just a message to the nation, but a resolution to the issue once and for all."
 

Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee:

"Race relations will not be the same in this state in my lifetime if you take that flag down."
 

Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Richland:

"I am convinced that had it not been for the NAACP in August that we would not be here at this point."
 

Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Beaufort:

"We're not some backward Southern state. We're not a bunch of rednecks."
 

Senate President Pro Tem John Drummond, D-Greenwood, in a speech before the debate began:

"Let's not worry about our image and our egos for awhile. As the old saying goes, you can't please everyone, so let's do what's right. ... The world is watching us today. This is an issue of national attention and national interest, but it's one that's in the hands of 46 senators."
 

Sen. Verne Smith, D-Greenville, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans who supported the measure:

"It's not the flag that's been misused by the Ku Klux Klan or the skinheads or anything like that. This is the square flag."
 

Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, talking about the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles:

"That was done in the state of California. The oh-so-politically correct state of California. They don't have the flag flying above the State House, I bet you. And we're the laughingstock?"
 

Sen. Kay Patterson, D-Richland, a longtime advocate for removing the flag:

"I'll probably accept it because South Carolina has gone through a whole lot, I mean a whole lot, and if we can settle it, I may just have to swallow and vote for it. ... I kind of feel like this is the best that we can do under the circumstances."
 

Sen. Bill Branton, R-Dorchester:

"What has brought all this together so quickly? Is it politics? Is it pressure? Is it concern about which party is going to control this General Assembly after the next election?"
 

Sen. John Courson, R-Richland:

"I think this is the only vehicle that will get 35 or 40 votes, which sends a strong message that we have consensus."
 

Sen. McKinley Washington, D-Allendale:

"I think it's a great day because a lot of people are sacrificing their special interests in favor of what is best for the people of South Carolina. Ladies and gentlemen, we've been fighting this battle a long time."

to my next rant (when posted)
The Joseph C. Hinson Home Page
My Rants and Raves