S.C. Confederate flag debate begins: What to expect
COLUMBIA, S.C. — More than 15 years after lawmakers voted to raise the South Carolina Infantry Battle Flag of the Confederate States of America on a Statehouse monument flagpole, legislators began meeting Monday morning to decide whether to take it down.
The lawmakers arrived in a charged atmosphere in which various groups plan to lobby, protest or pray over the flag's fate as the nation watches.
Polls of both chambers have already indicated a two-thirds super majority favors removing the flag. Legislators have received plenty of input on the controversy for weeks from constituents, as well as from interest groups and the business community.
Stephen Gilchrist, chairman of the S.C. African American Chamber of Commerce, said a vote to remove the flag would be a "silver lining" to the June 17 shooting deaths of nine people at an historic black church in Charleston by a white gunman.
Police believe the shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church was a hate crime. Several online photos of the suspect showed him posing with a Confederate flag.
On June 23, both the House and the Senate approved a resolution to allow this special debate to take place. The vote happened a day after South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, and other top lawmakers called on the Legislature to remove the flag.
"The Confederate flag represents division," Gilchrist said. "That's not something that should be celebrated, especially at a time when the state grapples with its real identity. The removal of this flag will help make South Carolina a place of opportunity for all South Carolinians."
Defenders of the flag say it represents Southern heritage and the valor of those who fought for the South in the Civil War. The Sons of Confederate Veterans passed a resolution in 2010 condemning use of the flag by hate groups, including the Ku Klux Klan.
The Senate is taking the first swing at the issue, since the single Senate bill drafted by Sen. Vincent Sheheen, a Camden Democrat, was already on the calendar.
The bill was introduced on the floor of the Senate on Monday.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Larry Martin of Pickens had said the only thing the bill addresses is removing the flag.
"It was purposely drawn that way so it would be a very narrow debate only on the flag at the monument," he said, "not to open up other matters that a single member might want to take up."
In remarks Monday, Martin said the bill "narrowly addresses" the Confederate flag. He wanted to clarify that the debate doesn't extend to road names or monuments.
But there will be other matters, some lawmakers believe.
Some want to discuss certain Confederate monuments on the Statehouse grounds, including the monument to former Gov. Ben Tillman, a former United States senator and white supremacist who supported lynch mobs and was known for anti-black speeches.
Students and faculty at Clemson University have been pushing to remove Tillman's name from a building there.
Martin and others expect discussion on whether to put another flag on the flagpole if the battle flag comes down, though bills in both chambers call for the flagpole to be removed. Rep. Doug Brannon, a Landrum Republican, has offered to pay $100 toward the cost of removal if other lawmakers are anxious about tax money being spent on the pole's demise.
Martin said he could support flying the South Carolina state flag from the flagpole to avoid the expense and effort of removing it. He said GOP senators may meet this morning to see if they can reach a consensus on an alternative flag.
Sen. Lee Bright, another Spartanburg County Republican and flag supporter, meanwhile, wants a referendum on the flag removal issue so that voters can have their say.
But opponents of that idea call it a delay tactic and say it could mean the flag would fly another year and a half.
Bright sees the entire issue as a broader affront on southern heritage.
"When you take the Dukes of Hazzard off of television, this is ridiculous," he said last week. "I don't know if there is enough time before Monday, but there will be a backlash either before or after this vote."
Bright, who has used filibusters in the Senate, said he does not plan to filibuster on the flag issue.
The current flag flying near the Confederate Soldier's Monument was placed there in 2000 as part of a compromise that lowered the Confederate Naval Jack from atop the Statehouse dome and removed battle flags from inside the building.
The flag was first raised above the Statehouse in 1961 as a memorial to the 100th anniversary of the start of the Civil War.
Various efforts at removing the flag culminated in a march on the Statehouse in 2000 that drew more than 40,000. Lawmakers negotiated a compromise that included creating an African-American history monument on the east side of the Statehouse grounds.
This week, the House is expected to take more time than the Senate on the flag issue.
Bills calling for the flag's removal are expected to go to a subcommittee Monday to be heard, then forwarded to the full House Judiciary Committee and then to the House floor.
Lawmakers are not sure how long that process will take but some believe the House floor debate could occur by Thursday.
Lawmakers are aware of the tensions involved. Already, authorities have arrested individuals for climbing or attempting to climb the flagpole and for fighting nearby.
State Senator Darrell Jackson said things could move quickly once debate begins.
"By the end of the day on Monday we could have resolved that and perhaps by Tuesday or Wednesday the governor will have signed the legislation and by the end of the week the flag can be down for good," said Jackson.
Jackson was a part of the 2000 compromise that put the flag at the monument. Now, he'd like to see the issue resolved once and for all.
"Hopefully the fight about the Confederate flag at the capitol will be over," he said.
A demonstration by Ku Klux Klan members is planned at the Statehouse for July 18.
The South Carolina NAACP, which has for decades called for the flag's removal from the grounds and pushed a boycott of the state until it was removed, plans a Unity and Justice Vigil on the Statehouse steps tonight at 7.
Rallies by those who oppose the flag and who support it have been held during the past two weeks.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans last week announced it was waiving new member and reinstatement fees until later this year in a move to swell its ranks to fight back what it sees as attacks on Southern heritage.
Also Monday, a group of Christians from a variety of denominations plan to be at the Statehouse for an "Amazing Grace" event, celebrating the grace of the families of the shooting victims in saying they forgave the man charged in the murders.
"We have stickers that we're going to give out that says Amazing Grace. We're going to have prayer for the Legislature who has a lot of tough decisions to make this week," said Bob Johnson, chairman of Columbia Race Relations.
"Our meeting is totally non-political; no political agenda at all. We hope that people will come and celebrate the fact that those nine people did not die in vain," Johnson said.
Martin predicts that a vote will come Monday afternoon, with a final vote Tuesday, meaning the House could elect simply to take the Senate bill through its committees to shorten the process.
"What I hope we can do is unify the state, not divide it as we undertake the debate," Martin said. "That's my objective. We're talking about our present and our future, not our past, and it's time to look at it that way."