The LBJ legislation in the 1960s of War on Poverty and the Civil Rights Act caused a second secession of the South from the Northern states: one of morals and American culture. The nation split into a more liberal and progressive Northeast and Pacific West, the South and Mid-West held on to its “heritage” and conservative values. Discrimination will be found everywhere across all 50 states, the old Confederacy has made it part of their history to view Afro-Americans as inferior. The same view can be found by law enforcement as many non-whites cannot escape the scourge of poverty, unemployment and lack of opportunity. The U.S. is a multiple tier nation as is every other country, however the inequality has grown beyond being acceptable as society as a whole. For President Obama, it’s not just about the NRA and/or gun legislation. The trouble for the U.S. runs much deeper and needs a new political leadership from both sides of the isle in Congress.
Despite mourning, statehouse Confederate battle flag remains at full staff | The Post and Courier |
The Confederate flag flying at the Statehouse in Columbia became part of the Charleston church shooting story Thursday after the U.S. and South Carolina flags were lowered in mourning but the rebel banner was left flying at its full height.
State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, a black Democratic lawmaker and minister, was among the nine people killed by a lone gunman accused of committing a hate crime. The suspect, Dylann Roof, 21, also displayed Confederate sympathies in some social media photographs.
Internet chatter lit up about the debate Thursday.
“When you fly the Confederate flag in your state capital you are sanctioning this terrorism. Just FYI,” Roxane Gay said on Twitter.
The “ubiquity of the Confederate flag in the South should be a source of shame/outrage. Not here for any lame-… `history’ arguments,” said LadyHawkins, also on Twitter.
Officials said the reason why the flag has not been touched is that its status is outlined, by law, as being under the protected purview of the full S.C. Legislature, which controls if and when it comes down.
In a show of respect, a brief recognition ceremony was held in the Senate chamber Thursday. The U.S. and South Carolina flags were lowered from the dome. The square Confederate banner that’s in front of the building on display at the Confederate monument was left alone.
« click for more info
The Visual Power of the 4 Flags in the News This Week (Photo and article Wired)The Confederate flag is more complicated than the Rhodesian and South African flags. For many Americans, it is an instantly recognizable symbol of hate. (Incidentally, around the world, it’s still an instantly recognizable symbol of America, as Civil War scholar David Blight has noted.) But some cling to other interpretations. These folks claim the flag stands for history, for heritage. Whether they realize it or not, that heritage inescapably is one of racism: Like the Rhodesian and South African flags, the Confederate flag was a banner of inequality from its very creation in 1861.
Here’s Why the Confederate Flag Is Still Flying in South Carolina | TIME |
Some are now demanding that the Confederate flag, considered by many to be a symbol of racial oppression, be removed from the state capitol. A MoveOn.org petition asking South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to remove the flag has gotten more than 100,000 signatures in less than 24 hours. Some lawmakers are also planning to introduce legislation to take the flag down.
So why is the Dixie Flag still flying?
Part of the answer is political. The South Carolina Heritage Act of 2000 stipulated that the Confederate flag would be removed from the capitol dome itself, but would be flown nearby at the Confederate Soldiers’ Monument, on the Statehouse grounds. It’s literally locked into place–State Representative Leon Howard told TIME that that the flag is padlocked to the flagpole to prevent tampering or removal.
