Removal Of Confederate Flag From South Carolina Capital (UPDATE: And Elsewhere)

Ken AshfordRaceLeave a Comment

It didn’t seem that long ago that this issue was debated. But it was 2000, so… yeah, 15 years. Back then, like today, presidential candidates were asked their views on whether South Carolina should fly the Confederate Flag on government property, and many of them punted (“it is a state issue”), just like many of the GOP candidates did this past weekend.

But then South Carolina governor Nikki Haley (R) acted in the interest of her state and called on the South Carolina legislature to remove the Confederate battle flag from the State Capitol grounds,  It was something I thought would never happen in my lifetime.  (And maybe it still won’t.  There are some “no’s” — visit the Post & Courier website today for a live tally of how the SC legislature will vote)

As I tweeted yesterday, I am a little annoyed that Haley said:

“The State House is different, and the events of this past week call upon us to look at this in a different way.”

Why?  Did Haley and others just discover that the confederate flag is a symbol of racism and hate last week?  I really don’t understand that.

But taken in conjunction with the shift in attitude of same-sex marriage, I wonder if we are not seeing a genuine transformation in attitudes, and the true death of social conservatism.  Fifteen years ago, you couldn’t get that flag down (entirely).  Now you can.  I think the old guard is dying off.

Just not soon enough…

Mass murderer Dylann Roof

Mass murderer Dylann Roof

RELATED: Walmart and Sears, two of the country’s largest retailers, will remove all Confederate flag merchandise from their stores.

Guess that explains why the Confederate flag is selling so well on Amazon right now (actual screen shot)

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BREAKING NOW:  Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe begins process to remove Confederate flag from state license plates: “This Commonwealth does not support the display of the Confederate battle flag or the message it sends to the rest of the world.”

AND THIS: eBay has released a statement to BuzzFeed confirming that they will be prohibiting the sale of the Confederate flag on their site:

eBay is a global marketplace and community and we continually monitor the approximately 800 million items on our site, and evaluate our policies to ensure they are consistent with our core purpose. We have decided to prohibit Confederate flags, and many items containing this image, because we believe it has become a contemporary symbol of divisiveness and racism. This decision is consistent with our long-standing policy that prohibits items that promote or glorify hatred, violence and racial intolerance.

THE HITS KEEP ON COMIN’: From Tennessee:

The bust of a Confederate general and leading figure in the early days of the Ku Klux Klan should be removed from the Tennessee statehouse, top Tennessee Democrats and the state Republican Party chairman said Monday.

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., and state House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley, said the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest has no place in the Tennessee statehouse.

And I didn’t know that NASCAR already nixed the flag:

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MORE MORE MORE….

AND LOCALLY