Move grows to remove Confederate imagery

[struggle4progress]

Bill Barrow
10:21 PM, Jun 23, 2015
Calls to remove Confederate imagery from public places multiplied rapidly across the South and beyond Tuesday, with opponents eyeing state flags, license plates and statues of Civil War politicians and generals ... Many of the efforts appear to have the muscle to succeed ...
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/national/charleston-shootingconfederate-symbols_54391035

University of Texas panel established to craft statue's fate
Students, faculty, alumni to list options
David Warren
10:21 PM, Jun 23, 2015
The University of Texas will establish a committee to determine the fate of the controversial Jefferson Davis statue ... The announcement Tuesday that a panel of students, faculty and alumni will provide a list of options for new UT President Greg Fenves came hours after vandals scrawled “Black lives matter” and “Bump all the chumps” on the statue pedestal ... “I deeply understand the concerns of our students who have raised this issue,” Fenves said in a statement ...
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/state/confederate-symbolsdavis_46754343

McAuliffe orders Confederate flag off Virginia license plates
Posted: Tuesday, June 23, 2015 10:51 pm
BY JOHN RAMSEY | Richmond Times-Dispatch
RICHMOND — The stars-and-bars logo of the Sons of Confederate Veterans should be removed from Virginia specialty license plates, Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared Tuesday ... “Although the battle flag is not flown here on Capitol Square, it has been the subject of considerable controversy, and it divides many of our people” McAuliffe said. “Even its display on state-issued license tags is, in my view, unnecessarily divisive and hurtful to too many of our people” ...
http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/politics/mcauliffe-orders-confederate-flag-off-virginia-license-plates/article_e28b95bc-1a1b-11e5-be4b-cb2ccf039142.html

Amazon, Google join retailers in banning Confederate flag
US | Tue Jun 23, 2015 11:40pm EDT
SAN FRANCISCO | By Mari Saito
... Google Inc (GOOGL.O) joined Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and eBay Inc (EBAY.O) on Tuesday in pulling Confederate flag merchandise from their shopping site, following brick and mortar retailers in reacting to last week's racially motivated mass shooting at a historic black South Carolina church. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) and Sears Holdings Corp (SHLD.O) on Monday banned sales of products bearing the image of the Confederate battle flag ...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/24/us-usa-shooting-south-carolinaebay-idUSKBN0P31ZJ20150624

State officials target Confederate symbols amid growing uproar
June 24th, 2015
by Andy Sher
NASHVILLE — Republican Gov. Bill Haslam said Tuesday he favors removing the bust of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a founder of the Ku Klux Klan, from Tennessee's state Capitol amid a growing uproar over Confederate symbols in the South. The governor also told reporters he supports removing the Confederate battle flag from state-issued tags commemorating the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) group. But he emphasized neither is a decision he can make on his own ...
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2015/jun/24/critics-questiefforts-remove-nabedford-forres/311167/

Warner Bros. to cease licensing 'Dukes of Hazzard' toy cars with Confederate flags
BY JUSTIN WISE
5 minutes ago
Warner Bros., the studio behind the making of The Dukes of Hazzard became the latest corporation to eschew selling products featuring the Confederate flag Tuesday. Warner Bros. Consumer Products will no longer license die-cast replicas and vehicles model kits based off the TV show that feature the Confederate flag ... “We have elected to cease the licensing of these product categories," the spokesman said ...
http://mashable.com/2015/06/24/dukes-of-hazzard-confederate-flag/

SC lawmakers agree to debate removing Confederate flag
Posted: Wednesday, June 24, 2015 12:00 am
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Chanting "bring it down, bring it down," hundreds gathered in Tuesday's sweltering heat to demand the removal of the Confederate battle flag from outside South Carolina's Statehouse, while lawmakers inside took their first step toward removing the historic but divisive symbol. Within minutes of convening a special session on the budget Tuesday, legislators agreed to debate the flag removal once the final budget is approved during another session later this summer ...
http://www.suncommercial.com/news/article_99586904-19d7-11e5-8771-3352f747b222.html

Citadel to move Confederate flag
June 23, 2015 22:50 EDT
By The Associated Press
The Citadel has voted to move the Confederate Naval Jack flag from an on-campus chapel to another location on campus.
Citadel President Lt. Gen. John W. Rosa said in a statement Tuesday that the military school's Board of Visitors voted 9-3 in favor of moving the flag from Summerall Chapel to what was called "an appropriate location on campus." Rosa said the move will require an amendment to the Heritage Act by the South Carolina legislature ...
http://www.wlos.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.nc/2046a233-www.wlos.com.shtml#.VYorpu1VhHw

[Sissyk]

1. Thank You for posting this.

Progress!

[WorseBeforeBetter]

2. McCrory (NC) wants it off the license plates as well...

http://www.wral.com/mccrory-wants-to-pull-confederate-flag-off-nc-specialty-plates/14733612/

[Cha]

3. Thanks struggle.

[TheOther95Percent]

4. The Past Isn't - William Faulkner

There has been some discussion on these boards about the quest to eradicate certain Confederate symbols as being Orwellian. I think it's a sign of incremental progress to take a more nuanced look at who we choose to honor and who has pride of place in the halls of government.

Nathan Bedford Forrest was controversial in his own time. Accused of the massacre of Union troops at Fort Pillow and the founder of the Klu Klux Klan, (he backed away from that organization when he deemed that lynching had "gotten out of hand.&quot had a memorial to him dedicated in Nashville in 1998. Here are some comments from one of the people behind the private memorial.

"If the churches in Nashville don't get behind these black preachers in Nashville, Nashville's going to burn," he said. "They better start backing some of these black preachers and their efforts to try to calm some of these neighborhoods down. One of the problems is every drive-by shooting in Nashville over the last year, year-and-a-half, has been over drugs.

"We've got a hell of a problem here, and the blacks are running it. This is the first white-on-black violence that we've had in a good while. But the black-on-black violence is a growing trend."


http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/davidson/2015/06/23/forrest-statue-land-owner-fires-back-blocking-efforts/29161883/

[sheshe2]

5. Kick and Hell yes Recommend.

[No Vested Interest]

6. I don't beieve all these efforts to remove the Confederate flag will succeed.

But if even one-half succeed, that will be a success, and will further isolate the remaining holdouts until they, too. will eventually remove it of their own accord.
Edited to add:
I especially appreciate Virginia's Gov. McAuliffe speaking up quickly, and believe that is something in his purview to correct.

[freshwest]

7. Shoulda been done a long time ago. A war was fought over their anti-American foolishness. n/t

[Hekate]

8. Times have changed, at long last. Now if only the culture of resentment and grievance ....

....could grow smaller and smaller, as well. Sadly, that kind of thing can persist for centuries -- we see it so well in other parts of the world, and fail to recognize it for what it is in our own country.

[Jamastiene]

9. McCrory said something about trying to get it off the license plates here

too. I hope he means it this time, unlike when he vetoed that bill he knew would be overridden (the one that allows officials to refuse to marry gay people). I already didn't trust McCrory. Now, since he did that underhanded deal, I REALLY don't trust him.

We will see if he means it though on that hideous flag. Maybe he actually means this one. I sure hope so. I'd like to see less of that flag at least on government property. I've been sick of it waving everywhere here in NC for ages now.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Kick

[Stryst]

11. Pull it down because it's the right thing to do!

This is one of those issues that forces us, as liberals, to question our core beliefs. Just how "sacred" is free speech? What sorts of limits should we put on free speech? What consequences are there to legally limiting an expression, even if most of us find it repellant?

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which (in article 19) recognizes free expression as a human right places certain limits on free speech when necessary "for respect of the rights or reputation of others" or "for the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals". We accept that free speech does not allow one to threaten, slander or libel. We accept that free speech does not allow for treason or sedition.

While I think that individuals should have the freedom to express their contempt for this country by using this flag, it becomes a trickier question when the leadership of one of the states in our union is displaying a symbol that represents the greatest act of treason in that unions history.

In the end I think that this situation is, in certain ways, analogous to self defense rights. Do you have the right to kill someone who enters your home nonviolently to steal your property? Yes, though I think it would be immoral to express that right (execution for theft).

So I think that they should have the right to display this flag, but knowing the history and emotional toll on the people that it carries, they should make moral choice and choose not to display this symbol. A right to free speech gives one the right to be offensive, but not the justification.

We should, as a society, be glad that we have the right to be as offensive as possible, while as individuals we should all make the choice not to be dickbags to each other. The governor should pull the flag down because it's the right thing to do, but they should not be forced to do it.

Of course, I have brain damage and I smoke a LOT of weed, so take anything I say with a large grain of salt.