{"id":96,"date":"2015-06-20T14:34:40","date_gmt":"2015-06-20T19:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fowlercs.com\/wp\/?p=96"},"modified":"2018-02-20T18:08:39","modified_gmt":"2018-02-20T23:08:39","slug":"a-quick-word-on-scs-confederate-flag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fowlercs.com\/wp\/a-quick-word-on-scs-confederate-flag\/","title":{"rendered":"A Quick Word on SC’s Confederate Flag"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>
A Confederate flag is displayed at the South Carolina state capitol in Columbia January 9, 2008. Many U.S. presidential campaigns shift their focus to South Carolina today for their first test in the south\u2013the historic flag, which until 2000 flew from the capitol dome, is for some a symbol of the state\u2019s political and racial divisions. REUTERS\/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES) \u2013 RTX5DUD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I am a SC native and resident. I remember every gubernatorial election and debate that ran up to the removal of the flag from the Statehouse dome in 2000. I also enjoy vexillology and history. Right now, the national conversation about the shootings in Charleston (the deeds of a racist madman) has renewed debate on removing the flag altogether from the Statehouse grounds (in my mind, a wise decison). Looking past the value judgments, let\u2019s examine some frequently asked questions.<\/p>\n

Q: How did it get there?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> In 1962, the all-white legislature voted to place the flag atop the dome in what was considered an oppositional gesture against the Civil Rights Movement. The official reason given was the anniversary of the Civil War, but that would have been 1961, so it\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess. It remained there ever since.<\/p>\n

Q: Why is it flying over a monument now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> What flies over the Confederate monument on the Statehouse grounds is a slightly different flag. What was above the dome was the Confederate Naval Jack; what flies over the monument is the Army of Northern Virginia Battle Flag, designed by William Porcher Miles. In 2000, the State Legislature passed the South Carolina Heritage Act<\/a>, which effectively removed the flag from atop the dome and placed a different flag at the monument.<\/p>\n

Q: Why wasn\u2019t that flag placed at half-staff when the others were?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> Logistics and symbolism. Logistically, the flagpole at the monument doesn\u2019t adjust. So it\u2019s either all the way up or all the way down. Symbolically, that flag is not representative of a sovereign entity. Flags at half-staff are usually either federal, state, or local. You may see private homes that fly their decorative flags at half-staff, but insofar as flag code<\/a> goes, only sovereign flags are of consequence. The flag at the monument is a memorial flag and represents no sovereign entity, so it doesn\u2019t count.<\/p>\n

Q: Okay, so it\u2019s a historical flag. Why isn\u2019t it in a museum?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> The Heritage Act requires a vote of the Legislature before any action is taken on the monument and flag. As of this writing, there is some support in the Legislature to take it down. We will see how that pans out. (Editorial: Why opponents of removing the flag believe that taking it down will somehow dishonor the memory of the dead is beyond me. No one has asked to tear up the monument. It\u2019s only a question of removing a banner that is causing a lot of trouble and heartache. Seems to me that we would better honor past and present by compromising.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am a SC native and resident. I remember every gubernatorial election and debate that ran up to the removal of the flag from the Statehouse dome in 2000. I also enjoy vexillology and history. Right now, the national conversation about the shootings in Charleston (the deeds of a racist madman) has renewed debate on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[74,73,72],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fowlercs.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fowlercs.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fowlercs.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fowlercs.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fowlercs.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/fowlercs.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98,"href":"http:\/\/fowlercs.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions\/98"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fowlercs.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fowlercs.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fowlercs.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}