wfn.org | March to remove Confederate flag

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3388 notes).

Note 3383 by UMNS on Jan. 22, 1997 at 16:04 Eastern (4422 characters).

SEARCH:   Confederate, flag, march, South Carolina, United
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Contact:  Joretta Purdue                      29(10-31-71BP){3383}
          Washington, D.C.  (202) 546-8722           Jan. 22, 1997

NOTE TO EDITORS:  Photo available to accompany this story.

S.C. United Methodists join silent witness
for moving Confederate flag from Statehouse

     South Carolina United Methodist Bishop J. Lawrence McCleskey
was among the leaders of an interfaith silent witness Jan. 21 to
encourage state legislators to cease flying the Confederate battle
flag atop the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C.
     On the first business day following the Martin Luther King
Jr. Holiday, McCleskey was one of nearly 600 clergy who encircled
the Carolina Plaza, a hotel where the legislature is meeting
during renovation of the Statehouse.
     Engaged in silent prayer for the legislators, the marchers
followed a banner proclaiming the "witness for reconciliation."
Each participant wore a badge that included the slogan and the
image of clasped hands, black and white, across the outline of the
state.
     As the marchers continued the circle of love, McCleskey was
one of nine bishops and judicatory leaders presented in the house
gallery by a United Methodist legislator. Seven others were
introduced in the senate.
     McCleskey termed the march "well organized" and very
dignified. "I feel like it did what we wanted it to do," he said.
A wide range of the religious community in South Carolina --
Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim -- participated.
     "It sent a clear signal that although there are disagreements
among us and although we come at things differently and although
we would not all agree on the ultimate placement of the flag, we
all do agree on the position that the Confederate flag needs to
come down," McCleskey explained.
     Two days earlier a full-page advertizement signed by
McCleskey and many other religious leaders from throughout the
state appeared in the state's three largest Sunday newspapers.
     The statement in the ad called on the political leaders of
the state "to find a way to transfer the Confederate battle flag,
gracefully, from atop the Statehouse to a more appropriate
location."
     Calling for reconciliation, the resolution observed that
because the flag represents so many different things to so many
different people, sacrifice by all would be required.
     "In short," said the resolution, "we seek a political climate
that is marked less by division and confrontation and more by
cooperation and mutual respect."
     United Methodists have been among the leaders in the effort
to have the Confederate flag moved. A resolution passed by the
South Carolina Annual (regional) Conference in 1986 asked that the
flag be permanently removed from the Statehouse flagpole, and
placed "where it may receive adequate understanding and reverence
as part of our state's history."
     In 1995, the annual conference reaffirmed its resolution at
the request of the conference board of church and society. The
board's report noted that "to a large number of South Carolinians
this flag is a troubling reminder of slavery and injustice."
     In 1994, two United Methodist ministers, Joe Alley and Eben
Taylor, were part of a handful of people who brought suit to have
the Confederate flag moved to another location. This suit was then
abandoned in favor of one brought by a larger group of business
and civic leaders.
     While the case in the South Carolina Supreme Court, where the
plaintiffs argued that there was no legal basis for the flag
flying over the capitol building, the legislature passed a law
giving itself jurisdiction and legislating that location. This
action rendered the case moot.
     Since then religious organizations have worked to change the
law on moral grounds. As Taylor, now retired, said recently, "It's
racial. It's evil down to its core because it's anti-black." 
     Meanwhile businessmen and some politicians continue to work
behind the scenes to get enough votes to change the legislation.
     Taylor predicted that if this legislature does not make the
needed change, "it'll happen in the future."
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