Irked S. Carolina City Awash in Confederate Flags
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HILTON HEAD, S.C. — Hundreds of Confederate battle flags snapped in the breeze of this coastal resort Sunday, a fierce answer to an NAACP demand that the rebel banner be removed from the state Capitol.
The flags of all sizes adorned cars and were waved by children and adults at a rally that drew about 400 people.
“We’ve given them everything they wanted. Now they want our flag,” William G. Carter, president of the state chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens, told the cheering, all-white crowd.
Carter was the state campaign manager for David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan member who ran for president in 1992.
The National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People said Saturday that it would hold off imposing an economic boycott on the state to force the flag’s removal at least until the state Supreme Court rules on the issue.
South Carolina is the only state to fly the rebel banner--a blue X with white stars on a red background--above its Capitol. Georgia and Mississippi include the flag’s design on their state flags.
Defenders honor the flag as a tribute to Southern culture and history. Opponents say it is a blatant symbol of slavery and bigotry.
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