March resumes urging action on Confederate flag

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. (AP) -- A group of some 70 people set out today on the second leg of a 120-mile trek to get the Confederate flag removed from atop the South Carolina Statehouse. <br><br>Women in wide-brimmed

Monday, April 3rd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. (AP) -- A group of some 70 people set out today on the second leg of a 120-mile trek to get the Confederate flag removed from atop the South Carolina Statehouse.

Women in wide-brimmed straw hats joined longshoremen and politicians walking three to four abreast, though the numbers were down sharply from about 600 people who began the march on Sunday.

They plan to arrive at the Statehouse in Columbia on Thursday, the same day a rally in support of the Confederate flag is scheduled at the Capitol.

"The flag no longer has any part to play in our society," said Sherrill Pickard, who describes herself as "a Southerner, and proud of it."

"It's an embarrassment to people that are white and a slap in the face to people who are black," she said.

The marchers encountered about a dozen Confederate flag supporters at a rural intersection northwest of Goose Creek.

Novelist Pat Conroy joined the marchers as they left Charleston on Sunday and plans to rejoin the group when they walk into Columbia on Thursday.

The novelist, known for stories of South Carolina such as "The Prince of Tides" and "The Lords of Discipline," said state lawmakers don't like being told what to do.

"South Carolina white boys love to dig their heels in. There's no question," he said. "Some of them will but they are going to hurt their state in the process."

Conroy warned that failure to resolve the flag controversy could cost the state the Spoleto Festival U.S.A., which lights up theaters and recital halls around Charleston each spring.

Marchers chanted "Bring it down" and held blue-and-white South Carolina state flags.

"The people of South Carolina -- white and African-American --want the flag to come down," said Charleston Mayor Joseph P. RileyJr., who had the idea for the march. "The purpose is to say the people of South Carolina are in step, and we want the Legislature to get in step with the people of South Carolina."

Riley was accompanied by two state law enforcement agents and marched in a bulletproof vest, saying he received a death threat last week.

Confederate flag supporters also demonstrated along the route on Sunday.

Mike Webb, a 23-year-old College of Charleston student, waved a Confederate flag Sunday and said marchers yelled threats at him.

"The people who were yelling at me were right in this crowd --saying, you know, 'I hope you brought your bulletproof vest,' "Webb said. "These people are a bunch of hypocrites."

Sandye Williams of James Island had ancestors who fought for the South, but said the flag should be moved.

"The whole issue is an embarrassment to the state of South Carolina and how the rest of the country looks at us -- like we're a bunch of racist rednecks," she said.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has called for a tourism boycott of the state, saying the Confederate flag above the Statehouse in Columbia is a racist emblem. Flag defenders say it is a symbol of Southern heritage and honors Confederate war dead.

Only state lawmakers can move the flag from the dome, and several plans are under consideration. Organizers of the "Get in Step" walk say it should be moved from the dome to a place of honor.
------
On the Net:
NAACP: http://www.naacp.org/new/current.asp?current
Flag opponents: http://www.getinstep.com
South Carolina Heritage Coalition:http://www.kudzumedia.com/schc.htm