Racist symbols and racial reality in South Carolina

By Brian E. Muhammad -Contributing Writer- | Last updated: Jun 30, 2015 - 9:24:54 AM

The casket of Rev. Clementa Pinckney sits beneath the podium as President Barack Obama speaks during services honoring Pinckney, June 26, at the College of Charleston TD Arena in Charleston, S.C. Pinckney was one of the nine people killed in the shooting at Emanuel AME Church. Photo: AP/Wide World photos

COLUMBIA, S.C. - President Barack Obama eulogized Reverend and State Senator Clementa Carlos Pinckney before 5,500 mourners who filled the T.D. Arena at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. National and local figures celebrated and paid respects to the life and legacy of the state senator who was murdered along with eight others, who were church leaders and congregants at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopalian church in Charleston.

“We are here today to remember a man of God who lived by faith; a man who believed in things not seen. A man who believed there were better days ahead, off in the distance,” President Obama said, describing Senator Pinckney.

The church massacre was stunning and brought world attention to Charleston in the days that followed. President Obama spoke June 26 of the achievements and character of Senator Pinckney who was often called the “moral conscience of the state legislature.”

“Maybe we now realize the way racial bias can infect us even when we don’t realize it, so that we’re guarding against not just racial slurs, but we’re also guarding against the subtle impulse to call Johnny back for a job interview but not Jamal,” said the president, in remarks that spoke of America’s original sin and the continuing problem of racism and racial denial in the United States.

In the closing years of a presidency in which Mr. Obama has been accused of being “condescending” and “distant” on race issues, not everyone lauded the eulogy as a watershed moment.

“Obama goes to Charleston with the mission of depoliticizing the terrorist attack in Charleston and closing the space between the African American and the state; and folks are falling all over themselves because this actor who has been acting like a president, acts like a preacher, acting like there is some special grace connected to the criminal enterprise known as the United States of America. Sad,” wrote human rights activist Ajamu Baraka in a June 27 post on FaceBook. “This same man who walks in God’s grace, but calls our young people criminals and thugs in Baltimore; No I am not impressed.”

President Obama characterized Senator Pinckney as a political figure who didn’t separate his spiritual calling as a pastor from work to serve the marginalized and voiceless in the state. Rev. Pinckney began preaching at 13-years-old. At 23, he became the youngest Black elected to the South Carolina House and in 2000 he was elected to the state Senate. At 41 Sen. Pinckney was senior pastor at one of the oldest and most historic churches of Black America. Emanuel AME is entrenched in the Black struggle against slavery and subjugation. The church in 1822 was targeted after a planned slave revolt and uprising led by Denmark Vesey, a church founder. In December 1821, freeman Vesey began to organize a slave rebellion that was betrayed before it started. The plot created mass hysteria throughout the Carolinas and the South. Ringleader Vesey and 35 others were hanged.

Some say it’s ironic Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old alleged killer and avowed White supremacist from Columbia, S.C.—a two hour drive—attacked June 17, the anniversary date of the planned Vesey insurrection. The killing of the Emanuel 9 raised mixed emotions, controversy and questions about whether the state senator had been targeted.

At Final Call press time, six churches had burned down in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee after the atrocity in Charleston. Attacks on Black churches as centers for mobilization against injustice in the 1950s and 1960s was common and church burnings swept the nation during the 1990s.

A debate is raging in South Carolina and other southern capitols amid pressure to remove Confederates flags, called a symbol of White supremacy and terror, while others embrace the flag as part of history and heritage. The issue was raised by South Carolina Republican Governor Nikki Haley, who called for removal of the flag.

Critics of Governor Haley questioned the reason and timing of her position switch, citing future ambitions for higher office.

“It was political expedience,” said Minister Kenneth Spry, an activist with Teen Spirit, a youth organization. Two days before making her remarks about removing the flag, Gov. Haley answering a question from CNN, said South Carolinians had already spoken and the subject was off the table, Minister Spry said. “She had a change of perspective because she has higher political ambitions,” he said.

President Obama praised Governor Haley for her stance. He weighed in on the flag issue during Senator Pinckney’s eulogy. Removing the flag “would be one step in an honest accounting of America’s history; a modest but meaningful balm for so many unhealed wounds,” he said. For too long America was blind to the pain the Confederate flag stirred in many people, the president said.

“It’s true; a flag did not cause these murders. But as people from all walks of life, Republicans and Democrats now acknowledge … the flag has always represented more than just ancestral pride,” said President Obama. “For many, Black and White, that flag was a reminder of systemic oppression and racial subjugation. We see that now.”

Senator Pinckney’s body was carried to the State House Rotunda by horse carriage which required his remains pass directly by the pole holding the Confederate flag that some supporters said was an insult.

In a press release the Congressional Black Caucus introduced a resolution honoring the Emanuel 9, Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Rev. Daniel Simmons, Sr., Tywanza Sanders, Cynthia Hurd, Sharonda Singleton, Myra Thompson, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, and Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor and calling for removal of the flag.

The resolution called for immediate removal of the Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the South Carolina State House; discontinuing sale of the Confederate flag merchandise by retailers; removal of symbolic and actual references to the Confederacy in states where they still remain; and banning use of the flag and its likeness on any governmental property, not excluding license plates.

“We acknowledge that demanding the removal of these hurtful images and symbols that represent decades of hatred and oppression is only the first step in addressing the racism plaguing our country, but we must also acknowledge that symbols matter,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-Mo.)

South Carolina lawmakers were due to vote on the matter at Final Call presstime. Activists, however, were not waiting for lawmakers to decide. Resistance started at places where the flag flies. Brittany Newsome, 30, of Raleigh, N.C., was arrested June 27 for climbing a flag pole on state house grounds and snatching the flag down. Also arrested was James Tyson, 30, for assisting.

There were daily protests at the site by pro- and anti-Confederate flag advocates, with a large pro-flag rally planned for July 4.

“The flag is our southern heritage,” said Rusty, 34, a White male who supports the flag staying up. “It don’t have anything to do with racism. It has everything to do with a country trying to stand up for itself—the 13 colonies.” When asked about violence against Blacks under the flag? “They do the same thing with the American flag,” he said. Rusty disagreed with connecting the flag to the accused killer of the Emanuel 9. “If the guy wants to be ignorant and say the flag represents racism” that’s one guy, he said.

Dre Rice, a Black businessman, called anti-flag protests a “pony show” and the debate a distraction from other key issues affecting Blacks like poor education and Black on Black crime. “To me the flag does not represent me or my history,” said Mr. Rice.

“It’s too much Black on Black crime for us to sit here and let a flag take the whole issue of what we should do as a culture,” he said. He felt the flag was harmless and advocated energy be used in Black communities trying to figure out solutions to problems.

The Final Call