Confederate Flag South Carolina

July 6^th 2015

Martin Schram's opinion piece in today's AJC labels Nikki Haley a hero. But another article by Seanna Adcox spells out the full story. Nikki Haley is an opportunist who saw the tide turning and decided to take advantage for her own benefit. She is no hero.

For five years she dismissed any calls to remove the confederate flag from the South Carolina statehouse. She went along with the majority of legislators who didn't care that a symbol of hate and enslavement flew proudly above their heads. Even after the hate based slaughter at the Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, Nikki Haley hesitated to remove the flag. 

Only when it was clear that the nation was disgusted at the continued support in southern states for an anti-American symbol of hate, did she take some faltering action.  Removal of the flag in South Carolina is not guaranteed yet. It still requires two thirds of the legislature to vote for its removal. She knows that, and hence if the flag remains she can now claim that she did her best.

That's not heroism or even basic human decency. It's playing politics with a cultural attitude that has lasted too long in this country. It's time to make that symbol illegal across the nation since it represents hate and bigotry to the majority of our citizens.