For those of you who may have missed it, once upon a time there were three flags being flown from atop the State House dome in Columbia, SC, those flags being in order the American flag, the South Carolina flag, and the Confederate Battle Flag. From what I've been able to find out about it, the Battle Flag was put up there in 1961 in commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the War for Southern Independence, and when the centennial celebration ended five years later, they just left it up there. It quickly grew famous - or infamous, depending on your point of view - and a coordinated, nonstop fight to get the flag removed from the dome was immediately begun by the NAACP.
Personally, I always thought that the Battle Flag had no reason for being up there because the State House represents ALL of the people of South Carolina, and the Battle Flag surely doesn't represent ALL of the people, but I wasn't living there at the time so it really wasn't any of my business. In any event, the NAACP and the black population of South Carolina raised enough hell about it that the House passed a resolution to remove the flag from the dome and place it next to the Confederate Soldier's Monument on the west side of the State House grounds. I think that's a more appropriate place for it anyway, but they really should have put it to a popular vote instead of doing the resolution thing. I think they may have been surprised by the results.
But anyway, before it was voted on by the state House, this move was proposed to the NAACP who agreed with it and said they were fine with it, saying that as long as the flag was removed from the dome they really didn't care where it went. Never mind the fact that the NAACP passed a national resolution in 1999 stating that their goal was to totally eliminate display of the Confederate Battle Flag on all public property, limiting its display to private property only; never mind the fact that at that same convention where this racist, bigoted resolution was passed they also passed a resolution calling for the economic boycott of South Carolina until the flag is gone. Never mind all that; in 2000 the NAACP said they were OK with the actions of the House, yet they kept the boycott in place and started campaigning for the total removal of the flag from the grounds a year later.
Seems they lied out their collective asses about the whole thing, huh?
And now, some well-meaning but misguided city councilman from Myrtle Beach by the name of Phil Render is preparing a resolution he plans to introduce to the House calling for the removal of the Confederate Battle Flag from the State House grounds, giving the NAACP exactly what they want. Mr. Render states that he's doing it for economic reasons, that the economic boycott by the NAACP has had a negative effect on Myrtle Beach, and that the only resolution to this is to get rid of the flag.
Hmmm, so Myrtle Beach is strapped for tourist cash, huh? Wonder why that is? Maybe, just maybe, Mr. Render, it's because in January of 2009 your city council passed a whole bunch of new laws on motorcycle operation in your city that were so restrictive that it drove not one, not two, but THREE of the biggest annual motorcycle rallies out of your city? How much money did those new laws cost the city of Myrtle Beach? Well, Mr. Pender, I was there in 2009, and the battle cry of the bikers was, "FU MYRTLE BEACH, WE CAME ANYWAY!" And when we came, we didn't stay in a hotel in Myrtle Beach; we didn't hit the bars in Myrtle Beach; we didn't visit any attractions in Myrtle Beach, which means that we didn't spend our money in Myrtle Beach. We did all of this - including the money spending part - in North Myrtle Beach, Murrell's Inlet, and anyplace else but Myrtle Beach.
So you brought your economic problems on yourself, pal. Don't blame the Confederate flag for your problems. And never mind the fact that on a whole, the NAACP boycott of South Carolina has largely been a resounding failure - tourism as a whole has gone up nearly every year since 1999, the only organization refusing to break the boycott being the NCAA. More on that later. But the tourists are still coming to South Carolina and as long as the state has the beaches, they'll continue to come despite the NAACP boycott.
Mr. Pender says he's not ready to introduce his resolution to the House until he gets "unanimous support" from his colleagues. Good luck with that, Mr. Pender. You'd be better advised to repeal those anti-biker laws you passed last year, although even then that's no guarantee that the bikers would come back. We have long memories, and we don't forgive and forget all that easily.
Personally, I am disgusted at this effort to blame the Confederate Flag and our Confederate heritage and history for a self-imposed problem. Mr. Pender is using the flag as a scapegoat, hoping to ignite the passions of the people and get the biggest racist organization next to the KKK, that being the NAACP, on his side and save his fair city. It absolutely disgusts me.
It also seems that Mr. Pender has forgotten what happened to the mayor and the council members of Myrtle Beach that passed the ordinances driving the bikers out of town. None of them got re-elected.
So, Mr. Pender, when are you up for re-election? And just what did you plan to do after your time on the council was over?
IHC
No comments:
Post a Comment