Flag clears South Carolina Senate hurdle, headed to House

Thursday, April 13th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The NAACP remained unsatisfied Thursday and said a boycott will continue after the South Carolina Senate gave final approval to a bill to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse dome.

The bill now is headed to the Republican-controlled House, which on Thursday passed a bill to create official state holidays recognizing Martin Luther King Jr. and Confederate Memorial Day.

House Republicans, many of whom support the flag, recognize a shift in public opinion.

"I think there's a realization that long term this is harmful to our state," said Republican House Speaker David Wilkins, a flag supporter. "I think that's persuaded many people to find an area of compromise. The boycott certainly has not been positive. The
national attention we've gotten has not been positive."

Some black House members think the Senate compromise to fly a Confederate flag in front of the Statehouse is too visible. And the
executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People voted unanimously against the proposal, said state President James Gallman.

NAACP President Kweisi Mfume said the national organization backs the state conference's decision

The Senate plan "adds insult to injury," said Nelson Rivers, field operations director for the NAACP and a former official in the South Carolina conference.

The bill would remove the banner from the dome and place a similar, square battle flag behind an existing monument honoring
Confederate soldiers on Statehouse grounds. The flag would fly on the north side of the Statehouse from a pole no taller than 20 feet.

The bill also would remove the Confederate flags hanging in the House and Senate chambers, and would protect all monuments,
memorials and buildings erected or named in honor of the Confederacy or civil rights movement.

The boycott, which took effect Jan. 1, has also been honored by the New York Knicks basketball team and the American Bar
Association. Industry officials in February estimated that South Carolina had lost almost $7 million in cancellations of conventions
and meetings.
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On the Net:
NAACP: http://www.naacp.org/new/current.asp?currentsc

Flag opponents: http://www.getinstep.com

South Carolina Heritage Coalition:
http://www.kudzumedia.com/schc.htm