What the Confederate Flag is Doing to South Carolina and Our Politics
If you've lived in South Carolina for any significant period of time, you undoubtedly know that the Confederate flag flies in front of the Capitol in Columbia next to a monument honoring fallen Confederate soldiers. Our state has a storied and tense history with the flag, which perched atop the Capitol building from 1962 until the state senate passed a bill in 2000 to have it moved to its current location. And there it has flown ever since...albeit a more traditional square-shaped version of the flag.Yet many remain vehement that the flag is a symbol of racism and want its removal entirely, including the NAACP, who has maintained a long-standing boycott of South Carolina as a result.
When gubernatorial candidate Mullins McLeod announced this week that he believes the Confederate flag should be permanently removed altogether from the Capitol grounds, angry hornets from both sides started buzzing again. While the Confederate flag issue is a tense one, it for the most part has remained dormant for the last nine years. McLeod maintains that flying the flag is a detriment to state economy and will ultimately hurt jobs and economic growth.
With our ear to the ground when it comes to South Carolina politics, we have noticed in the last day or two just how fervid the argument over the flag is. While certainly a legitimate argument with many people's feelings deserving to be taken into consideration, it also made us think about what this persistent issue is doing to South Carolina politics.
With our ear to the ground when it comes to South Carolina politics, we have noticed in the last day or two just how fervid the argument over the flag is. While certainly a legitimate argument with many people's feelings deserving to be taken into consideration, it also made us think about what this persistent issue is doing to South Carolina politics.
Regardless of whether or not you think the flag should go or stay, regardless of whether or not you agree with McLeod that the flag hurts our economy, we would be remiss not to point out the zealous and angry discord the issue is allowing to continue...and drag on...and on.... The issue has created a serious crack in our politics, our political parties and our people, and each time it resurfaces we open those old wounds. Our point? Sure, it's a heated issue and a very personal one for many people. But we need to work together to heal this fissure. It's bad for our state, it pollutes our political climate and it pits our people against one another.
As a state that is already perceived by much of the nation as floundering in a fishbowl of political quandaries, we need to band together, not allow issues to sever our political parties.
More insights and info into the Confederate flag issue:
FITSNEWS
The Rock Hill Herald
The Greenville News
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