Upstate legislator offers ‘Hands Off My Flag’ stickers to supporters

One of the Legislature’s most ardent supporters of the Confederate battle flag said he will introduce an amendment that would allow South Carolina voters to decide whether the flag should fly over the State House grounds.

State Sen. Lee Bright, a Spartanburg County Republican, has taken to social media to urge flag supporters to stand with him.

He also is using the flag as a fundraising tool by offering bumper stickers depicting the Confederate banner and reading “Keep Your Hands Off My Flag” to those who make a financial contribution to his campaign.

He urged supporters to sign an online petition to keep the flag on the capitol grounds.

“This flag is a part of our heritage, so the people of this state should have the final say,” Bright said on his Facebook page Wednesday.

Bright told The Greenville News he wants to preserve a piece of history.

“I don’t believe they (flag opponents) will stop there,” he said. “I think until they demonize (George) Washington and (Thomas) Jefferson will they be complete.”

He was appalled by the shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston that killed nine people, including state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, Bright said.

“I was obviously in shock, what happened to Senator Pinckney,” Bright said, “and it disgusted me seeing that young man (accused shooter Dylann Roof) with a Confederate battle flag because so much has been done to cast that flag in a bigoted and racial fashion.”

But “when I see that flag, I don’t see Roof. I don’t see the (Ku Klux) Klan,” he said. “When I see that flag, I see Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.”

A survey of state legislators shows there is enough support to remove the flag from the State House grounds. Republican Gov. Nikki Haley has urged lawmakers to move the flag to a museum.

While the flag for many South Carolinians stands for noble traditions of history, heritage and ancestry, for many others it’s a “deeply offensive symbol of a brutally oppressive past,” Haley said.

A diverse group of business and political leaders has called for the removal of the flag from the State House grounds.

John Warner, whose company raises capital to invest in South Carolina technology companies, told Bright through social media that two months ago he met with a wealthy out-of-state individual who was “very interested” in making a significant investment.

“Then Charleston and the flag debate happened,” Warner said. “He called Monday to say that while he liked my company, he is no longer interested in doing business in South Carolina.

“This is a specific, tangible example of the cost of divisive symbols and rhetoric which are self-inflicted wounds driving investment away and hurting everyone in South Carolina. My ancestors fought for the Confederacy, and I understand this is an emotional issue for many people. But please become part of the leadership who takes the flag down so we all come together to move the state forward.”

Bright said he’s aware of that criticism.

“I’m a big believer in the private sector,” he said. “And I believe that people are going to make business decisions based on what’s best for business. In six months from now, this thing will have blown over. There’s been a boycott for a dozen years and you still see these companies coming.”

Some lawmakers, including Rep. Mike Burns, R-Greenville, still hope for a compromise.

“I do not support the removal,” he said. “Confederate vets who represented our state in wartime were given equal veteran rights by the U.S. Congress.”

But he understands other viewpoints “and will evaluate a reasonable compromise,” Burns said.

This story was originally published July 1, 2015 at 8:00 PM.