Blog | Fly Confederate flag in your front yard, not on South Carolina State House grounds
It’s not news that a majority of South Carolinians surveyed said the Confederate flag should remain right where it is, on the State House grounds.
But the percentage surprised me.
Almost three quarters of white residents said the flag should remain, compared to 61 percent of black residents who believe it should be moved.
From the piece:
Fifty-three percent of whites thought strongly it should stay up, while 51 percent of blacks said it should come down.
“That’s a divide that most people expected,” said Scott Huffmon, director of the Winthrop poll, which surveyed 852 S.C. adults from Nov. 9-16.
“The debate over the flag is carried on by people at the extremes,” Huffmon said. “Some see it as a living testament, paying respect to slavery. Other see it as a point of honor, honoring the (Confederate) dead.”
The poll also asked respondents to rate their feelings on the flag. The results showed that nearly a third of South Carolinians have neutral feelings about the flag.
“Most people in the middle see it as a historical marker,” said Winthrop’s Huffmon.
But nearly 60 percent of blacks felt negatively about the flag, most of them very negatively. Thirty-seven percent of whites felt positively about the flag compared with 26 percent who felt negatively.
The old argument is the “heritage vs. hate” debate, about whether or not honoring the flag is primarily about honoring those who died in the Civil War or a constant symbol of the slavery and discrimination that has long roots in our region.
I’m sort of tired of that discussion. (Yes, the South seceded from the union to preserve slavery; they told us so.)
But the more important question is why must that flag remain on State House grounds, a place financed by all residents, black, white, Latino, pro- and anti-flag?
If you want to honor your heritage with that flag, why not do it in your private life? Fly it from a pole in your front yard or put a Confederate flag sticker on your car.
Why must everyone else have to “honor” it along with you?
I thought this was a conservative state with plenty of people who believe in the private sector and leaving others alone? Why doesn’t that belief extend to the Confederate flag?
This story was originally published November 24, 2014 at 10:41 AM with the headline "Blog | Fly Confederate flag in your front yard, not on South Carolina State House grounds."