[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 6 (Tuesday, February 1, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E49-E50]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ``TAKE DOWN THE FLAG''

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 1, 2000

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak about an issue that is 
involving my home State of South Carolina in a national discussion. In 
recent weeks, the discussion over the confederate flag flying atop the 
Statehouse in Columbia, South Carolina, has moved from a State issue to 
a national debate. Of all of the opinions that have been shared 
throughout this debate, I find the following letter the most cogent and 
concise on this very emotional issue. Mr. Speaker, I submit for the 
Record the following letter written by Michael A. Allen which appeared 
in the Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina, on Tuesday, 
January 25, 2000.

               [From the Post and Courier, Jan. 25, 2000]

                           Take Down the Flag

       As a promoter and preserver of cultural heritage, the South 
     Carolina African American Heritage Council has a keen 
     appreciation and understanding of those who defend the flying 
     of the Confederate battle flag on that basis. The flag in and 
     of itself is indeed a part of South Carolina's heritage. 
     Let's indeed preserve the flag and its legacy, even though 
     that legacy means different things to different people.
       Also in our position as preservers of cultural heritage, 
     the council board of directors recognizes the fact that there 
     are places inappropriate for the conspicuous display of 
     historic relics. We defend the right of flag supporters to 
     defend the banner as a relic of cultural integrity.
       However, we contend that it is indeed a historic relic and 
     that its position above the Statehouse and in the House and 
     Senate chambers is indefensible. The Confederate battle flag 
     in question never truly held a place of sovereignty even in 
     the days of the Confederacy in the 19th century, but was 
     carried by troops in battle. This makes it reprehensible and 
     even baffling to the impartial and reasoning mind that such a 
     relic would occupy such a position of sovereignty in 21st-
     century South Carolina.
       Not every South Carolinian is a native Southerner. Not 
     every South Carolinian had ancestors who fought, or fought 
     willingly, for the Confederacy in the Civil War. Not all 
     South Carolinians, even native white South Carolinians, 
     believe in the ideas of the Confederacy fought to uphold. And 
     not every South Carolinian feels good about a flag flown by 
     the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and other racial and ethnic hate 
     groups also hanging in and flying over the halls of 
     government of their state, as if to give the impression, 
     though the impression may be false, that this flag is who we 
     all are and what we all stand for.
       Therefore, the South Carolina African American Heritage 
     Council now adds its voice to the evergrowing chorus of those 
     calling for the removal of the Confederate flags from atop 
     the South Carolina Statehouse, from the Senate and House 
     chambers, from the front ground foyer of the Statehouse, and 
     for them to be put in a place more fitting for the 
     preservation of cultural heritage.

                                             Michael A. Allen,

                                                  Former Chairman,
                           S.C. African American Heritage Council.


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