Month: June 2020

Let’s fly the Union Jack over Columbia, South Carolina!

The Confederate Battle Flag used to fly over the South Carolina Capitol up until July 2000, when it was taken down from atop the Capitol and raised on a 30-foot tall flag pole on the grounds in front of the Capitol. 

Pro-flag supporters say that flying the Confederate Battle Flag is a way for them to celebrate their Southern heritage.  They have a point, but their Southern heritage is much more than the Confederacy – they used to be a British colony!

So, why not celebrate that history and heritage as well?  For 96 years the British flag flew over South Carolina, while the flag of the Confederacy only flew for 4 years!  As a British-American, I am outraged that the history and heritage of the British colonists that founded the great state of South Carolina is being forgotten every day.

To that end, I support the construction of a 50 foot flagpole to stand right behind the Confederate Battle Flag on which will fly the Union Jack.  It will commemorate the founders of the original colony of Carolina, who in 1670 established a permanent settlement near Charleston.  South Carolina was one of the richest colonies in Colonial America, and this honor should not be lost.

Now, I know what you are thinking – we can’t fly the Union Jack over the South Carolina Capitol.  I say, why not?  Is it because they lost the war?  Well, so did the Confederacy, but you still see its flag flying!  I say: let’s fly them both.  Looking back, isn’t the Colonial history of South Carolina as much an important part of heritage as the Confederacy?  I would say it is even more important!

So, if you are going to celebrate your heritage, celebrate it all the way!  Let’s fly that Union Jack in front of the Capitol!

[Note: This post originally was published on this site in April 2002. It is as apt now as it was 18 years ago. The flag isn’t about heritage, as my post shows, but about racism. If you truly wanted to celebrate heritage, you’d wave the Union Jack as well!]

What Trump Should Have Said

So last night, Donald Trump came out and basically declared martial law. He said that if governors and mayors can’t control the riots, then he would bring in the military to do so. (What, is he going to shoot protestors or what?)

Anyway, what Donnie should have said is this:

I want to stop the violence. I know right now, the violence is happening under the cover of the protests. With the protests growing–and I hear your anger and anxiety–we need to end the protests to bring the violence in our cities to an end.

To achieve that, I am convening a national forum on race to resolve these issues. I hear you. I hear what you are saying. For too long, too many in Washington have turned the other way, and past Presidents have told you what you wanted to hear to stop the violence, but I am committed to resolving this, something no past President has been able to do.

I will be inviting the nation’s top law enforcement officials as well as many community leaders from our most marginalized groups, which will include not only African-Americans, but also Latinos, Native Americans, Muslims, and other immigrants who feel they have been victimized. We will have a dialog for as long as it takes to institute a new policy of racial justice in which all Americans are, to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, not only created equal, but treated equal.

The violence needs to stop, and to achieve that, we need to end the systemic racism, racial profiling, and police brutality. We can’t achieve that by yelling at each other or destroying our cities, but rather by talking–and most importantly–listening to one another.

Instead, what we got was this:

We are ending the riots and lawlessness that has spread throughout our country. We will end it now. Today I have strongly recommended to every governor to deploy the national guard in sufficient numbers that we dominate the streets, mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled.

We all know Donnie is incapable of compassion, and incapable of listening. Most of all he is incapable of change.

And to all the evangelical Christians, I ask: of these two speeches, which one would Jesus give? Would he give the one where he asks both sides to come together in peace and work to achieve something that should be mutually beneficial to both sides? Or would he say “I’m going to deploy with such strength that I will dominate until the violence is quelled”? Seriously, what would Jesus do?