Editorial: Retire Confederate flag to a museum

FOR 15 YEARS, South Carolina has lived with an uneasy compromise, after lawmakers removed the Confederate flag from its wholly inappropriate position of sovereignty atop the State House but then planted it in the middle of our state’s front lawn — at the intersection of Gervais and Main streets.

It was far too prominent a position, but out of respect for the compromise, religious leaders, business leaders, political leaders and our editorial board waited. Waited for the right time to reengage the debate, to finally retire a symbol that is so very hurtful to so very many of our fellow South Carolinians.

That time has arrived.

The time has arrived because so many good people of South Carolina for the first time have recognized the brutality that unvarnished racism inflicts on our black neighbors. Because, they, we, reacted in embarrassed awe when the families of the slain innocents forgave the monster who invaded the sanctity of a church prayer meeting and executed nine people, for the crime of being black. We recoiled in horror when we saw the assassin drape himself in the very flag that continued waving on our State House grounds, even as a brokenhearted state mourned the massacre at Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church.

The time has arrived because those good people rose up in an unorganized mass and demanded that the flag be removed from the people’s house.

The time has arrived because a governor who became a governor after she pledged allegiance to defenders of the flag says the time has arrived. Think of it as a Nixon goes to China moment. And that governor didn’t simply issue orders; she worked to line up support among legislators who long have wanted the flag removed from our State House and among legislators who have fought to defend its display.

The time has arrived because elected officials black and white, Republican and Democrat put aside their partisanship and political pride and in many cases personal animosity toward the governor and allow her to receive the credit for the culmination of their decades-long work.

It’s strange the way this works: Removing the flag from the State House grounds requires the leadership of the sort that Gov. Haley and so many other officials displayed on Monday, but its removal is meaningless unless the people of South Carolina agree that it needs to be moved. Indeed, the reason the 2000 compromise did not help our state move past racial animosity was that the people of South Carolina did not come together to act.

This new effort to retire the flag to a museum begins in the right spirit, and Gov. Haley has set the right tone.

As a flag defender, she was gracious to those South Carolinians who see the flag as a tribute to their ancestors, whom they believe fought bravely in defense of their state. At a surreal news conference on Monday, Gov. Haley spoke of the “hate-filled murderer who massacred our brothers and sisters in Charleston” having “a sick and twisted view of the flag,” and declared: “In no way does he reflect the people in our state who respect, and in many ways, revere it. Those South Carolinians view the flag as a symbol of respect, integrity and duty. They also see it as a memorial, a way to honor ancestors who came to the service of their state during a time of great conflict.”

As someone who was not willing to allow our state to become synonymous with the emblems of hatred, she was firm. “We are not going to allow this symbol to divide us any longer,” she said. “ The fact that people are choosing to use it as a sign of hate is something we cannot stand. The fact that it causes pain to so many is enough to move it from the Capitol grounds — it is, after all, a Capitol that belongs to all of us.”

It is, after all, a Capitol that belongs to all of us.

Gov. Haley’s call to action was an important step, but it was a mere first step. Our legislators voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to allow themselves to engage this issue this summer. But with every passing day, they will hear from more constituents whose hearts have not been changed by the horror of last week, who want no change.

They must hear from us. Like Gov. Haley, we must be respectful of those who revere the flag. Like the governor, we must be firm in our insistence that it be retired to a museum, and done so in a way that brings us all together.

The time has arrived.

This story was originally published June 23, 2015 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Editorial: Retire Confederate flag to a museum."