The NAACP's effort to boost its boycott of South Carolina because of the Confederate flag is causing some confusion among flag supporters. The lieutenant commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans says the group has made an offer to a property owner to put up a giant Confederate flag along a busy Columbia highway in response to the NAACP. But the commander of the SCV says no offer has been made, only an inquiry, and the lt. commander is speaking for himself and not the group.
SCV Division Lt. Commander Don Gordon says, "We are negotiating with one property owner to put up a very large flag, and it's strictly in response to the NAACP."
Earlier in the day, he said the group hopes to add other large flagpoles to interstates across the state so drivers will "know they're in the South." But he later said that wasn't definite and would have to be voted on.
SCV Division Commander Randy Burbage says Gordon is speaking only for himself, because no decisions have been made about how to respond to the NAACP. As for the possibility of putting up a giant Confederate flag on a busy Columbia highway, Burbage says, "We haven't made any kind of movement toward that. All I had him (Gordon) do is inquire about it."
The NAACP announced at its convention this week a renewed boycott aimed at bringing down the Confederate flag. It's asking Hollywood actors and producers to join the boycott and not come to South Carolina to shoot any movies. State lawmakers passed a law that just went into effect July 1 to offer producers better incentives to make their movies in the state.
The Confederate flag originally flew on the Statehouse dome, but lawmakers reached a compromise in 2000 to move it to the Confederate Soldiers monument in front of the Statehouse. The NAACP says it won't be satisfied until the flag is off public property completely.
Two state lawmakers who worked on the compromise say it's unlikely they'll revisit the issue. Sen. John Courson, R-Columbia, released a statement saying, "The matter was resolved in 2000," and that he'd have no further comment. Senate president pro tempore Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, says even if lawmakers brought the issue up again, the compromise that was passed requires a two-thirds vote to move the flag again, a vote that's very difficult to get.
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