Confederate Flag Rally Met By Protesters At State House Grounds
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)– The South Carolina Secessionist Party was on statehouse grounds and proudly waved the Confederate flag once again. The flag was taken down in 2015 after a shooting at a predominately black church killed nine people.
This year, the rally was expecting about 100 people to come out Tuesday, but it was a smaller rally than last year’s. All over the statehouse lawn, the Confederate flag stood tall, and on the other side of the barricades, people stood with signs to protest the flag’s return.
“For us, it’s a chance to remind the legislature and the people of South Carolina who admire and respect their Confederate heritage, that they’re not by themselves, we haven’t forgotten what happened. We believe the people of South Carolina should’ve had their voices heard in 2015. And also to remind the legislature they made us a promise in 2015 that when the flag came down it’d be put on display in our confederate relic room in the Military Museum. Three years later that still hasn’t happened. So we want the legislature to keep their promise,” James Bessenger, Chairman of S.C. Secessionist Party, said.
Those who were protesting against the flag say it does deserve a space to be housed, just not in the relic room.
“So because it’s not a relic of the Confederacy, like the flag that they flew, the flag that was here was not a South Carolina battalion flag, it’s not a confederate relic. So the curators of the relic room in the museum are like, ‘this is not the place for it because it doesn’t fit here,’” Sarah Keeling said, a protester against the Confederate flag.
There has also been lots of concern over how much a case for the flag would cost, some estimates were in the millions.
“We can’t fund roads in this state? How are we going to fund a flag? A display for a flag. We can’t fund roads, bridges, education…how are they going to find funding for a flag?” Keeling said.
Those who miss the flag on the grounds say it is a lot like the debate over tearing down statues, for many of them, it is a reminder of who came before us.
“The same with Mr. Tillman. I think he was a terrible person. But he has an important story to tell in our state’s history. And I think tearing the monument down does a disservice to our future generations of who exactly these people were, whether you like them or not,” Bessenger said.
They’re still waiting for the legislature to find funding for a case. Right now, the flag that was at the statehouse is sitting in a box and has been since 2015.
