Steve Spurrier Speaks Up

[DG_ThenNowForever]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/foot...g.ap/index.html

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The Confederate flag shouldn't fly at the Statehouse, South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier said Saturday after the Gamecocks' annual spring game.

Spurrier's comments came in response to questions about something he said Friday night when he received an award from a volunteer organization. According to people at that event, Spurrier said the flag should come down.

"My opinion is we don't need the Confederate flag at our Capitol," Spurrier said Saturday. "I don't really know anybody that wants it there, but I guess there are a lot of South Carolinians that do want it there."

City Year board chairman Kerry Abel said Spurrier's remarks at his group's awards banquet Friday night caught everyone by surprise.

Jenna Micklash, who attended the event, said the coach's comments came as he accepted a citizenship award from the group, which encourages young people to take on community improvement projects.

Micklash said Spurrier prefaced his remarks by saying the event wasn't supposed to be political and said that he doesn't usually get a chance to talk to as diverse a crowd as was at the awards ceremony.

"I think everybody got kind of excited about" bringing down the flag, Micklash said later Friday. "It was one of the coolest moments I've seen."

Spurrier's predecessor, Lou Holtz, joined Clemson's football coach Tommy Bowden and both schools' basketball coaches in calling for the flag to be removed from the Capitol dome in 2000, when the NAACP started a boycott of the state.

The flag was removed from the dome in 2000, but placed at the Confederate Soldier Monument on Statehouse grounds. The state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said that was not good enough and continued its boycott. The initial boycott drew wide support from inside and outside the state, but encouragement for the ongoing effort has waned in recent years.

Spurrier said Saturday that no one had asked him his opinion of the flag in the two seasons he has coached at South Carolina.

I always admire people taking a stand when they don't have to, and Spurrier just used his clout in the state to prompt a conversation among South Carolina's residents that I would like to hear.

[leedsunited]

good for recruiting.

[NJTank]

There is nothing wrong with flying the flag of the south on a confederate burial ground, its historical.

[IceCap]

There is nothing wrong with flying the flag of the south on a confederate burial ground, its historical.

If they want to honour the dead who fought for the CSA with a flag then they can use the "Stars and Bars", the flag of the Confederacy before the current Confederate flag was adopted in 1861. There's no reason to use a symbol that has come to be associated with hate groups when a more suitable replacement waits in the wings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CSA_FLA...1-21.5.1861.svg

[NJTank]

It should not be above the capitol but I don't see the issue with in on the burial ground, next thing you will be removing it from the General Lee in the next Dukes of Hazzard movie should we be put through such torture they make another one.

[IceCap]

It should not be above the capitol but I don't see the issue with in on the burial ground, next thing you will be removing it from the General Lee in the next Dukes of Hazzard movie should we be put through such torture they make another one.

My point is that the original Confederate flag, the "Stars and bars", doesn't have the same racist connection the Confederate battle flag (or naval jack) does, so why not use the "stars and bars" instead of the tainted battle flag/naval jack?

[NJTank]

No there is no racist connection to this flag that was a PC creation.

[jkrdevil]

No there is no racist connection to this flag that was a PC creation.

There isn't a racist connection in a flag that was a battle flag for states fighting for slavery and has since been used by hate groups?

[NJTank]

It was just a southern thing,

Are you saying Lynard Skynard is racist, or the Dukes of Hazard.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

It should not be above the capitol but I don't see the issue with in on the burial ground, next thing you will be removing it from the General Lee in the next Dukes of Hazzard movie should we be put through such torture they make another one.

They have made a second one: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800328/ No word on whether or not it's been thoroughly cleansed for our liberal PC sensibilities.

[IceCap]

*Just a point of reference, here's a quick list of the CSA flags so people who aren't as informed on the subject won't be lost in the sea of terms like "naval jack", "battle flag", and "stars and bars".

I apologize if anyone is offended by any of the following images, they're strictly for reference.

CSA first national flag, the "Stars and bars"

CSA "battle flag"

CSA "naval jack"

No there is no racist connection to this flag that was a PC creation.

Um, no. It wasn't. The Confederate battle flag/naval jack was adopted as a symbol by the KKK during the Civil Rights movement in the late 1950's/1960's. Until then the KKK had used their own banner as well as the American flag.

Then during the Civil Rights movement the KKK adopted the CSA battle flag and naval jack as banners of their racist ideology. Since then the CSA battle flag and naval jack have had a racist taint to them.

So no Tank, the PC police didn't turn the CSA battle flag/naval jack into a racist symbol, the KKK did.

[The_Admiral]

No there is no racist connection to this flag that was a PC creation.

It wasn't meant to have one, but it's developed one, don't you think? The rebel flag is a sign of hate, and I get irritated with seeing it in the South, and disgusted when I see it in the North.

What's the worst? The PC Police, Cheap Trick's "Dream Police," or Leonard Cohen's "Jazz Police"?

[DEAD!]

Why fly the confederate flag?.... after all "they" lost the civil war.

[IceCap]

No there is no racist connection to this flag that was a PC creation.

It wasn't meant to have one, but it's developed one, don't you think? The rebel flag is a sign of hate, and I get irritated with seeing it in the South, and disgusted when I see it in the North.

Exactly. Regardless of what it was originally meant to represent, it's become a symbol of racism. So if they need a flag to remember those who fought for the CSA then they should use the "stars and bars" fag, seeing as it has less of a racist connection then the battle flag or naval jack.

[oz615]

I agree w/ Tank,on this,BTW as y'all already know i'm black and the flag doesn't bother me one bit.Because the community has bigger issues to worry about IMO.I'll leave it @ that

[NJTank]

It should not be above the capitol but I don't see the issue with in on the burial ground, next thing you will be removing it from the General Lee in the next Dukes of Hazzard movie should we be put through such torture they make another one.

They have made a second one: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800328/ No word on whether or not it's been thoroughly cleansed for our liberal PC sensibilities.

Direct to Video I see, it mus really suck

[jkrdevil]

It should not be above the capitol but I don't see the issue with in on the burial ground, next thing you will be removing it from the General Lee in the next Dukes of Hazzard movie should we be put through such torture they make another one.

They have made a second one: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800328/ No word on whether or not it's been thoroughly cleansed for our liberal PC sensibilities.

Direct to Video I see, it mus really suck

Did you see the original? That wasn't exactly academy award winning, I can't imagine how bad the sequel will be.

[NJTank]

I saw parts of it on HBO never saw the full thing and Ive seen enough

[STL FANATIC]

I don't believe in banning the confederate flag, but any state that chooses to fly it at their capital (or anywhere else that represents the state probably) is making a dumb and poor decision.

History belongs in a museum, not on a flag pole (a pedestal for something people should take pride in).

The Confederacy is part of the South's history. The Nazi's are part of Germany's history. Niether should be forgotten or hidden, but they should also not be a symbol of pride in any manner.

While the Confederacy stood for more than just legalized slavery, the fact that that was a major point of emphasis for them immediately gives that flag DUMB AND RACIST connotations.

I'm the farthest from the PC police. I think we've lost a lot that we shouldn't have because of politicial correctness. But the Confederate flag would not be one of them.

Keep it in history books and museums. Let ignorant people (or sometimes real, awful racists) wear it on their shirts and put it on their bumpers if they really want to. But don't encourage it, and don't fly it as a National or Statewide symbol.

[DEAD!]

It should not be above the capitol but I don't see the issue with in on the burial ground, next thing you will be removing it from the General Lee in the next Dukes of Hazzard movie should we be put through such torture they make another one.

They have made a second one: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800328/ No word on whether or not it's been thoroughly cleansed for our liberal PC sensibilities.

Direct to Video I see, it mus really suck

Did you see the original? That wasn't exactly academy award winning, I can't imagine how bad the sequel will be.

Depends on who you like better: Jessica Simpson or April Scott....

I agree w/ Tank,on this,BTW as y'all already know i'm black and the flag doesn't bother me one bit.Because the community has bigger issues to worry about IMO.I'll leave it @ that

Absolutely agree with you on that.