Best views, weather, etc. How to test them 👓 SC, Ala. sites look back Betty Ford honored
WASHINGTON
Republican Party

Lawmakers buck populace in Confederate flag bastion

Ron Barnett
USA TODAY
Andrew Duncan, 17, of Easley, S.C. outside his pickup truck parked July 1, 2015, on Calhoun Memorial Highway.

EASLEY, S.C. — A muscular white pickup truck was parked along Calhoun Memorial Highway on a recent afternoon, with two red, white and blue flags fluttering from its tailgate.

One of them was Old Glory, which, as always, increases in visibility in the days leading up to July 4. The other was the star-crossed Confederate battle flag, a banner at the center of a national debate that has unfurled nowhere with more passion than here in the Palmetto state.

The flag — which also flies outside the Statehouse in Columbia and from which Dylann Roof drew inspiration as he allegedly gunned down nine black people in a church in Charleston, about 225 miles to the southeast — draws friendly honks as motorists pass by, waving at 17-year-old Andrew Duncan.

He said he flies the flag in honor of his great-great-great uncle, Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood.

"It's kind of a heritage thing to me," he said. "I'm kind of sick of everybody being racist about it."

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

You could drive for hours across South Carolina and even here in Pickens County, a stronghold of pro-Confederate flag sentiment, and count scores of American flags for every Confederate flag you might see.

Even many people who openly fly the flag, such as a homeowner on Lucky Street here who said he flies it in honor of his great-great Civil War POW grandfather, decline to comment publicly out of fear that their words might be "misconstrued."

But the relative invisibility of the battle flag of the Old South here belies the strong feelings many residents of this rural Blue Ridge foothills county harbor for keeping the Confederate Naval Jack flying between the Statehouse and Main Street in Columbia, S.C.

An informal poll on The Greenville News' Pickens County Facebook page showed flag supporters outnumbered those who want it taken down by an 8-1 margin, far more lopsided than a poll of the newspaper's general readership, which had a 2-1 margin in favor of the flag remaining.

Jo Frasure said she's "tired of outsiders telling us how to live, what to fly. It's our heritage, and it's not about hate. Leave our flag alone."

The controversy has put the county's legislative delegation in the hot seat going into next week's debate in which action on the Confederate flag is expected. Most Pickens County lawmakers, like a majority of their colleagues according to polling this week, favor taking the flag down.

Storm clouds gather June 27, 2015, outside the South Carolina Statehouse in Columbia, S.C., where the Confederate battle flag flies near the building.

"Been nice knowing you," first-term state Rep. Neal Collins of Easley quipped after releasing his statement in support of moving the flag to a museum.

In it, he acknowledged that the flag is an important symbol of family ties to the Civil War and Southern history for many of his constituents.

"However, to many others, the flag represents something far different," he wrote. "Most notably, it represents oppression to minorities but also hate to a small segment of society.

"And this is the turning point for me — any symbol endorsed by a state should unify her people. The Confederate battle flag certainly does not," he wrote. "Rather, it divides in unimaginable ways as evidenced last week."

The two state senators who represent the county have co-sponsored a bill to remove the banner, and one signed on as a sponsor of a House bill to do the same. A third House member said he planned to keep an open mind on the issue until the debate on the floor.

All are Republicans.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Pickens County native running for the GOP nomination for president, was among those who stood with Republican Gov. Nikki Haley the week after the shootings when she called for the legislature to take the flag down.

"After the tragic, hate-filled shooting in Charleston, it is only appropriate that we deal once and for all with the issue of the flag," Graham said. "I hope that by removing the flag we can take another step towards healing and recognition — and a sign that South Carolina is moving forward."

The board of trustees of Clemson University, which is located in Pickens County on land once owned by pro-slavery statesman John C. Calhoun, refused earlier this year to take action after student and faculty groups called for changing the name of Tillman Hall, its historic main building. Ben Tillman, a founder of the school, took part in violence against blacks during the Reconstruction era.

But the board unanimously approved a resolution this week calling for the Confederate flag's removal from Statehouse grounds.

Pickens County residents on both sides took part in a flag debate on the newspaper's Facebook page.

"This is not about the flag. It's about control," Peggy Edwards posted. "Taking the flag down will not stop hatred and evil or prevent another murder."

Sheila Ann Petitt said she wants legislators to take down the flag "and move on."

"Put the flag in a museum and teach its history," she wrote. "None of us alive today fought in this war. Why is it so hard for people to learn from the past and move on?"

Ron Barnett also reports for The Greenville (S.C.) News

A man holds up a U.S. Marine Corps flag one hand and Confederate battle flag in the other along the side of the road July 1, 2015, as President Barack Obama passed in his motorcade in Nashville, Tenn.
Featured Weekly Ad