FITS Confederate Flag Poll: The Results Are In
A plurality of FITS readers say the Confederate battle flag should not be moved from its current location – on the north lawn of the S.C. State House grounds behind a Confederate soldiers’ monument.
With a whopping 1,500 responses received over just three days, 40% of FITS readers said that the flag should stay where it is. Meanwhile, 31% believe that the flag should actually be returned to is former location atop the State House dome (as pictured above).
Only 28% said the flag should be removed from the grounds altogether and placed in a museum, as has been proposed by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mullins McLeod.
Oh, and before some of the liberals in the house accuse FITS of being followed exclusively by right-wing knuckle-draggers, we’d like to point out that over 80% of respondents in a recent FITS poll said U.S. Rep. Addison Graves “Joe” Wilson embarrassed South Carolina when he yelled “You Lie” at President Barack Obama during a nationally-televised Congressional address.
Just some food for thought…
Anyway, who would have thought that the flag debate – which had been reduced to “whimper status” in the past three election cycles – would rear its head again in 2010?
Certainly not us …
In 2000 – after a long and bitter debate – a bipartisan, multiracial coalition of state lawmakers agreed to remove the flag from the State House dome and place it behind the soldiers’ monument on the State House grounds. The flag was also removed from the S.C. House and State Senate chambers as a part of that compromise, which included the creation of two new state holidays – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Confederate Memorial Day.
Since the 2000 compromise, the rancor over the issue has simmered mostly under the surface.
The NAACP continues to boycott the state, however, while the NCAA refuses to schedule “predetermined” postseason events – like basketball tournaments – at South Carolina sites.
The issue’s antagonists can’t even agree on how to describe the flag’s current location.
Supporters say the flag is “tucked away” behind the Confederate monument (which itself is currently tucked away behind a Christmas tree), while the flag’s opponents describe it as being located in a “prominent location” on the State House grounds.
As for the political fallout from McLeod’s announcement, thus far it has been limited – although we recently received a statement from the Democratic gubernatorial front-runner, State Sen. Vincent Sheheen.
What’s his position? Stay tuned …
Comments
By Liberty For Me on November 22nd, 2009 at 10:54 pm
I would like to solve this whole issue..Lets take down the current confederate flag….put the original 1st national flag on the capital (which these morons would not even know what it is) Then take down the U.S. flag and tell eveyone that does not like it to fuck off and get the hell out of South Carolina…Problem Solved..No more income tax and no more bailouts….TA DAH!!!!!!
By Calhoun Fawls on November 22nd, 2009 at 11:28 pm
That lawyer from Charleston, his name escapes me, running for Governor brought this up to get support from the NAACP. It is desperation tactic to get his name, which still escapes me, in the newspapers.
By Pamela Simpson on November 23rd, 2009 at 12:57 am
I am sick and tired of the debate over that flag. It is a part of HISTORY and this moron who wants to take it down needs to run for governor of a yankee state instead of a Southern state if he is ashamed of our flag.
As for the NAACP, Al Sharpton and all those others, what they don’t like to admit was that there was an entire platoon of black men who fought FOR the Confederacy during the Civil War and they also do not like to admit that slavery was a MINOR issue in the Civil War.
It is a gross double standard when white Southern children are taught that they are politically incorrect if they do not embrace the African American culture while at the same time being taught that they should be ashamed of their own.
I think S.C. should tell the NAACP what the governor of GA. told them, which is that our flag is going nowhere and we don’t care about your boycott because we don’t want your kind in Ga. anyway.
As for the idiot that has started all of this yet again; good luck becoming governor of SC. I think you may need to talk to former Gov. Beasley.
By Michael Rodgers on November 23rd, 2009 at 5:52 am
That people can’t agree on how to describe the flag’s current location is a key indicator that something must be done (and, as you’ve noted, many “flag supporters” at some times say “tucked away” and at other times say “in your face”). The problem is that the display is poorly (or rather, not at all) designed.
If the flagpole is to be part of the Confederate Monument, then there should be some ring around them both to demarcate that a visitor has stepped into the monument region. Adding the flag near the monument was done by legislators, not designers of monuments. We should get proposals about how to design that region so we are not stuck with the current situation.
And the current situation with the Christmas tree in front of the monument region demonstrates even further that the current situation must be (re)designed. The Christmas tree is in the right location, and it unfortunately blocks the monument. There’s a lot of room between the Christmas tree and George Washington (and there’s room elsewhere on the grounds.) Something should be done.
Here is a link to some pictures I took over the weekend.
The issue is for South Carolina to stop losing money and stop looking stupid. There are ways to respect the service and sacrifice of the Confederate soldiers and to honor the flag that they carried without looking stupid and without losing money. For example, we can implement Alabama’s solution (Confederate monument and flags together, over to the side) or we can implement North Carolina’s solution (basically, the Confederate flag would fly in SC only on Confederate Memorial Day).
The issue is the display, not the flag, not the soldiers, not race, not the fight against (or for) tyranny. The display looks stupid because there’s no demarcation and because the flag is simultaneously tucked away and out in front. And the stupid display must be resolved as soon as possible, because the stupid display enrages so many people, because the stupid display defines our state as South Carolina, where the Confederate flag still flies, and because the stupid display costs us a lot of money in lost tourism, lost tournaments, and a disadvantaged negotiating position when we try to compete to bring people and businesses to our state.
If you love the Confederate flag, fine, OK, let’s get it displayed in a way that’s not stupid, OK? As the Rev. Joseph Darby wrote in the Post and Courier in April 2007, “There’s adequate room on the grounds of the Statehouse for the placement of the [Confederate] flag in a position that clearly denotes history and not heritage, and I do hope that it’s found and agreed to sooner rather than later so that the matter can be resolved and so that all South Carolinians can celebrate our shared history and offer appropriate respect to our diverse heritage.”
Again, the issue is not the flag. The issue is that, when the legislators hurriedly made the “compromise” in 2000, they did not get the Confederate Soldier Monument area designed properly. All we need is to get and install a proper design.
By Billy Bearden on November 23rd, 2009 at 7:11 am
Dear FITS (to be tied) folks,
ONLY the race baiting we wants are doing this – that and the wanna be guvnerz who chose to pander. Yeah, Truth hurts and sets you free.
It was the we wants who got the Sons of Confederate Veterans BANNED from this year’s Miami Veteran’s Day Parade.
It was the we wants who FORCED the cancellation of a “Dukes of Hazzard” musical starring John Schnieder and Tom Wopat in Cincinnati.
It was the we wants who got the Virginia State Flag Salute REMOVED from recitation in the Va Legislature.
ENOUGH is ENOUGH! Ain’t no flag causing ANY of your problems. If you REALLY want to help yourselves out of a HOLE, then I recommend that y’all BAN, REMOVE, and FORCE the Jesse Jacksons Julian Bonds Mullins McLeods Al Sharptons and Joe Darbys AWAY and get back to God and Family
By blackjack on November 23rd, 2009 at 7:43 am
Just a brief factual American history lesson—the civil war began over a money dispute—excessively high Federal Tarifs on Southern exports. Under our Constitution, at that time in history, all states were sovereign & could rightly secede if the state’s folk’s felt the Fed’s were too oppressive. Of coarse, after the war began, ole Abe had the constitution amended, basicly stripping sovereignty from the states.
So, think about it, what are all wars fought over? The civil war was no different. The spin masters would have you think the original dispute between North & South was actually over slavery—nothing could be further from the truth.
For ye shall know the truth & the truth shall set you free.
By Toyota Kawaski on November 23rd, 2009 at 8:08 am
Mr.Rogers stick to cardigan sweaters and the land of make believe.
By Liberty For Me on November 23rd, 2009 at 8:40 am
Michael Rogers…You have WAY too much time on your hands.
By Pat Hendrix on November 23rd, 2009 at 9:06 am
South Postpones Rising Again For Yet Another Year
HUNTSVILLE, AL–For the 135th straight year since Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, representatives for the South announced Monday that the region has postponed plans to rise again.
Three of the estimated 45 million Southerners who have not yet gotten around to rising again.
“Make no mistake, the South shall rise again,” said Knox Pritchard, president of the Huntsville-based Alliance Of Confederate States. “But we’re just not quite ready to do it now. Hopefully, we’ll be able to rise again real soon, maybe even in 2001.”
Pritchard’s fellow Southerners shared his confidence.
“Yes, sir. The South will rise again, and when it does, I’ll be right up front waving the Stars and Bars,” said Dock Mullins of Decatur, GA. “But first, I gotta get my truck fixed and get that rusty old stove out of my yard.”
“Lord willing, and the creek don’t rise, we gonna rise again,” said Sumter, SC, radiator technician Hap Slidell, who describes himself as “Southern by the grace of God.” “I don’t know exactly when we’re gonna do it, but one of these days, we’re gonna show them Yankees how it’s done.”
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28559
By Liberty For Me on November 23rd, 2009 at 9:18 am
Pat ….funny..I guess it depends on what you mean by the south rising.
Does that mean donning gray uniforms, and making black women make pancakes with a red bandana on???..Or does it mean carrying a Gadsden flag while taking down the fed ,, taking back your country and rediscovering liberty??….Can you smell what the Rock is cooking??
By WorkingTommyC on November 23rd, 2009 at 9:30 am
QUOTE:Michael Rodgers: ” . . . [T]he stupid display costs us a lot of money in lost tourism, lost tournaments, and a disadvantaged negotiating position when we try to compete to bring people and businesses to our state.”
Why don’t we just give up EVERYTHING and sell our souls to the devil?
Mr. Rodgers, I don’t know about YOUR neighborhood, but in mine, culture and heritage and the business climate are all tied together. If not for the former two, we’d not have ANY of the free market left.
The “Korporate Heil” attitude is as poisonous as the “Green Heil” attitude. It’s called “fascism.”
Hitler was all about destroying the provincialism of Germany and uniting the country. The first step in any take over of a people is to destroy their culture.
The USSR also made a science of it. The Chinese communists (emerging fascists) have probably been the most successful at it so far. NOT good examples to follow in my opinion.
By CNSYD on November 23rd, 2009 at 9:53 am
Michael Rodgers, the only thing stupid is you. You present your same fallacious arguments over and over. Who cares what NAACP stooges like Darby think. They only represent the minority of a minority. When non NAACP, Black businessmen speak I will listen. You are so naive that you think your “solution” will be the end of it. Move the flag (again) and next will be the deletion of Confederate Memorial Day, etc. Then any and all Confederate monuments. What the race baiting NAACP has in store for Ft. Sumter, Ft. Moutrie and any other national monuments God only knows. But once they get all this they will go after what their real intent has been all along. Reparations.
By CNSYD on November 23rd, 2009 at 9:56 am
Michael Rodgers, any time Toyota, LFM, Tommy C and I are in agreement on something is a sure indication that you are not just an outlier but a space cadet.
By CUAlum85 on November 23rd, 2009 at 12:02 pm
What spin Rodgers has put on it now! First it should be moved because displaying the flag year round didn’t denote the “special” significance of the flag and now it is simply because the area wasn’t properly designed. Sounds like a bad politician to me, just can’t keep his stories straight.
By Elliott on November 23rd, 2009 at 3:08 pm
I do not agree that readers of your blog are representative of the population in South Carolina. Even right-wing knuckle-draggers were embarrassed by Joe Wilson.
By jimbob on November 23rd, 2009 at 4:06 pm
While a strong supporter of flying the Confederate flag, I could live with it being removed…if that would be the end of it. But we all know that would just be the beginning. Several years ago NCAAP spokespeople were asked about holiday’s and place names. Their response was that they would address the issue of “those inappropriately honored” at a later point.
By Soft Sigh From Hell on November 23rd, 2009 at 6:32 pm
I always have to laugh at the froth “tha flag” stirs up at every mere mention.
Can we talk about toppling the “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman statue next, a la Saddam’s? Just for a little diversity mind you. The Pelion contingent may have to look him up, but I’m sure he’ll pass muster once they get reacquainted. Then let’s rename Ruffin. And Edmund. And Strom Thurmond High School. Heck, we might be able to power turbines with the release of heat and wind. Even at just the suggestions.
By BIN News Editorial Staff on November 23rd, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Our Funding Editor wants to know who in blue blazes is Michelle (take down the flag) Rogers. Doesn’t she know that no one (not even out Funding Editor) has the patience, time or intelligence to read that much krap?
Sorry. Is that Mich(a)el? Who cares. Smily, needs to get a life.
By Scott on November 23rd, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Sadly, the Confederate Flag has been very successfully claimed as a primary, and permanent, symbol by groups of people representing hate and bigotry. Regardless of what the Flag means to any of us, the message of hate, not of history and heritage, is what comes across to most of the world when the flag is displayed. South Carolina needs to stop cutting off her nose to spite her face and admit that the Flag’s symbolism is permanently and tragically associated with this undesirable element. No matter how legitimately and loudly the supporters of flying the Flag reject hatred and embrace heritage and history, the message sent won’t change. Being stubborn about this will only continue to hurt the state.
By Steve Richardson on November 23rd, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Here in Alabama, we’re putting up BIG Confederate flags, marching in parades, honoring our Confederate heros with grave dedications and getting plenty of support doing it. I hope the “good”, patriotic, and loyal Southrons will keep up the great fight. It’s because of you that we’re continuing the battle. Political pandering and correctness is out of control. The biggest problem is those of our own kind are waving the white flag of cowardice – um, I meant surrender when the battle is far from over. We’re gonna have to fight again, you all know it. I for one will not retreat over my ancestors name. I’ll die first. I love to visit Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina. Was over at the Confederate Museum in Greenville not long ago. Like one of the previous posts, run the troublemakers out. Anybody know why MLK’s FBI records were sealed? He was a whoremonger, lier, cheat, just to name a few. And they make the place where he was shot a shrine. Recon what went on there the night before the shooting? FLY THE FLAG – EVERYWHERE!
By Steve Richardson on November 23rd, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Here in Alabama, we’re putting up BIG Confederate flags, marching in parades, honoring our Confederate heros with grave dedications and getting plenty of support doing it. I hope the “good”, patriotic, and loyal Southrons will keep up the great fight. It’s because of you that we’re continuing the battle. Political pandering and correctness is out of control. The biggest problem is those of our own kind are waving the white flag of cowardice – um, I meant surrender when the battle is far from over. We’re gonna have to fight again, you all know it. I for one will not retreat over my ancestors name. I’ll die first. I love to visit Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina. Was over at the Confederate Museum in Greenville not long ago. Like one of the previous posts, run the troublemakers out. Anybody know why MLK’s FBI records were sealed? He was a whoremonger, lier, cheat, just to name a few. And they make the place where he was shot a shrine. Recon what went on there the night before the shooting? FLY THE FLAG – EVERYWHERE!
By Cooter Brown on November 24th, 2009 at 6:36 am
Least wee becomes confused wit da facts, letuce rememba dat th’ battle flag ov da armie of notherna Virginie, th’ solders’ flag, naught th’ flag ov th’ Confederacy, witch has neva flown ova aniethin’ in our fair State, iz a flyin at th’ soldiers’ monument.
Heer me: Solders’ flag at da soldiers’ monument, folks. Casint git mo historicallie clear dan dat.
All ye musuem scalawags cango t’ hell.
Caint be no confushun ’bout th’ meanin’ ov dat flag unless it iz willful an’ based on somthin’ otha than da plain facts.
Ye may naught agree wit fitin’ th’ invadin’ yankee in 1861– fine! I dont ritely agree wit invadin’ Iraq o’ anie ov dem otha A-rab states, but I don’t reckon we ought t’ dishounor th’ soldier hoo ansewered th’ call ov thier countrie, does ye?
Th’ flag iz naught a movin, peoples. Forgit ’bout it. Wee still houour th’ dead here, even if th’ cause iz currently unpopular wit th’ ignorant, th’ scalawag, an’ the carpetbagger.
Slaverie an’ racism iz straw dowgs used t’ keep us in subjegashun to our marsters n Warshngtun. Dey will continue t’ beat our peoples wit dat stick until wee cease t’ walk on two legs an’ git down on all fours. Open yer eyes peoples!
By Teresa on November 24th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Scott hit the nail on the head with this statement: “Sadly, the Confederate Flag has been very successfully claimed as a primary, and permanent, symbol by groups of people representing hate and bigotry.”
You’re never going to be able to wrestle the confederate flag away from the racist groups. It is time to take down the confederate flag to show Americans the citizens of South Carolina reject hate and bigotry.
By Retired SC L.E.O. on November 24th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
If everyone thought like Scott and Teresa we wouldn’t have anything. Weather you realize it or not the Confederate flag is just the beginning, if you let the NAACP, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpeton and race baiting politicians put our Confederate flag in a dusty old box, Your heritage, your freedom, your rights will soon follow. This is not cutting off your nose to spite your face. This is having the guts to stand up for what is right, for what you believe in, and setting the record straight concerning the hand full of hate groups and others that hijacked the Confederate flag and used it for their own agenda. There are people around the world who hate America and burn our American flag but you would not consider taking down the American flag and hiding it because there are people who consider it a symbol of oppression, hate, or tyranny, because we as Americans know better. It is our duty as true Southerners to let everyone know that we are proud of our Confederate flag and of our Great Great Grand Fathers who fought and died to preserve their homes, farms and way of life in the south. You can show America and citizens of South Carolina that you reject hate and bigotry but not at the expense of your own beliefs, ideals and symbols of your heritage and the flag of your fore fathers.
By Michael Rodgers on November 24th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
I’m reminded of a Police Squad episode, where Frank (Leslie Nielsen) goes to the police crime lab to look at some evidence. He’s told to look into a microscope. He does and says that he can’t see anything. Then his partner says, “Use your open eye, Frank.”
Look at the display. Look at it. There’s a Christmas tree that’s closer to the Confederate Soldier Monument than the flag is. The Confederate soldier is carrying a rifle, from the front, and appears to be the angel of Christmas at the top of the tree. The (nylon) Confederate flag is flying from a pole in a gated area that’s totally in the lawn — green grass is all around the fence. There’s green grass between the flag and the monument. The concrete of the monument and of the flag don’t touch. There’s no separation between the flag/monument combo and the green lawn expanse behind the flag.
This is the best we can do in South Carolina to honor the Confederate soldiers and the flag they carried? It looks stupid. The Confederate Monument is good; the inscriptions are very nice. The flying flag is extremely confusing — it’s clearly supposed to be part of the monument, but it clearly isn’t part of the monument, and why is it in front of the State House and tucked away behind the monument? It’s just all rather stupid-looking.
The display was designed by our legislators when they were desperate to pass something so that they could get reelected for another decade (the representatives choose the voters by gerrymandering after the census). They did a lot of good things with the “compromise,” but designing a proper display for the Confederate flag so that it would truly be part of the Confederate Soldier Monument wasn’t one of them.
This stupid display is confusing and irritating. The NAACP thinks so, and I think so, and a lot of people think so. If you used your open eye to look at it, I suspect that you would think so, too. You can criticize me personally, or the NAACP, or people of the NAACP if you want to — hey, knock yourselves out, have fun — but at the end of the day, the display still looks stupid.
What’s the solution? I came across H.3588 as a solution, and I liked it. It’s very respectful of the Confederate flag, and it ends a lot of the confusion about the stupid display, making the stupid display much, much less stupid. Other solutions abound. I’m for any solution that 1)makes the stupid display a lot less stupid, 2) honors the Confederate soldiers and the flag they carried in a very respectful way, 3) ends the NAACP tourism boycott and the NCAA tournament ban, and 4) enables our state to define ourselves so that we are no longer “South Carolina, where the Confederate flag still flies.”
We need to change the stupid display. Change isn’t necessarily reward or punishment. There won’t be losers if we make a respectful change.
By Pragmatic on November 29th, 2009 at 7:30 am
The comment:e issue is the display, not the flag, not the soldiers, not race, not the fight against (or for) tyranny. The display looks stupid because there’s no demarcation and because the flag is simultaneously tucked away and out in front. And the stupid display must be resolved as soon as possible, because the stupid display enrages so many people, because the stupid display defines our state as South Carolina, where the Confederate flag still flies, and because the stupid display costs us a lot of money in lost tourism, lost tournaments, and a disadvantaged negotiating position when we try to compete to bring people and businesses to our state.
You buddy are a sheep, your more concerned with bringing in a dollar from groups of people who would rather spit in your face as talk to you, Flag or no flag..you my sheeply friend are more concerned with appearances than honor or respect. Whats more embarrassing to this country are the sheeply little men who hide behind computer screens rather than standing up as Men. As a woman, I am so tired of (sheep in men’s clothing). I am tired of trying to please all the people all the time even if it compromises one’s ideals and history. Whats pathetic “Michael Rodgers” is your post advocates trashing men and their symbol who died for your right to post your crap in the efforts of being polically correct. Grow a pair Mike and all I can say is this am, I said a little prayer that I hope you arent an example of the DNA this country can look forward to in its defense. Your so full of crap, you make an argument that the flag isnt displayed to your liking, but what comes out of the other side of your mouth is you really want it hidden to not piss people off..