Support for the Current Placement of the Confederate Flag in South Carolina

Support for the Current Placement of the Confederate Flag in South Carolina

There is an old saying that says you can please all of the people some of the time, or you can please some of the people all of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Never is this truer than in the state of South Carolina as it pertains to the flying of the Confederate Battle Flag. It is obvious at this point that no solution will make everyone in the state happy, but a compromise does need to be made that can satisfy a majority of the people. I think that a satisfactory compromise, or at least as satisfactory as can be realistically attained, was made when the flag was relocated to the statehouse grounds last year. This may have brought on a lot of griping from different political action groups and other outspoken pundits, but for the common citizens that make up the majority of the state I think that this will prove to be sufficient if outside organizations can quit aggravating the situation.

In preparing a compromise on the flag issue, one must consider the different sides of this debate. One group, the opponents of the flag, would wish it to be banished completely. First of all, not only is this simply not possible because of the sheer number of supporters who would wield the flag anyway, but it simply does not do justice to the men who fought and died under that flag. If we were to call for the complete prohibition of all Vietnam War remembrance ceremonies because it offends some of the Vietnamese-American citizens of the country, or the ban of all nationally recognized Christian holidays because it offends the Muslims of the country, it would never happen. It must be recognized that we live in a diverse nat...

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...ys tribute to the people it was meant to venerate.

This seems to be the best solution to this very passionate and historic dispute. There will always be trouble and unrest surrounding the Confederate Battle Flag; it is a symbol charged with great emotion on both sides. There is no “right answer” to this quandary, and I’m sure that this debate will rage for generations to come just as it has for generations past. As far as a solution is concerned though, I think that the decision makers in South Carolina have solved the problem as well as it can be solved. It is impossible to make everyone happy with any decision, but for the time being, I think that this solution makes the most people happy.

Works Cited:

Darby, Joseph A. “Darby Responds to Most Recent Allegations Against Sanctions.” Editorial. The Post and Courier [Charleston, SC] 16 May 2001: A7.