Nikki Haley agitates the agitators
In calling for the removal of the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds, Nikki Haley outmaneuvers the agitators
In the wake of last week’s massacre at the Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina’s governor, Nikki Haley, has called for the removal of the Confederate flag from the grounds of the State House.
Per CNN:
“Today we are here in a moment of unity in our state without ill will to say it is time to remove the flag from our capitol grounds,” said Haley, a Republican and the state’s first non-white governor, while flanked by a diverse group of South Carolina politicians.
“This flag, while an integral part of our past, does not represent the future of our great state,” she said.
Approval for moving the flag can only be done by a two-thirds vote of the state legislature. As this is the last week of the legislative year in South Carolina, Gov. Haley has promised to call the General Assembly back to the capital “under extraordinary measures” if they fail to resolve the matter quickly.
Reactions to Haley’s comments are varied. Many people from around the county took to social media to applaud the governor. Others were disappointed, as they feel the flag represents a rich history.
Both sides are right.
A great many soldiers died fighting under that flag; whether or not you agree with why they fought, it cannot be denied that the flag is an important part of our nation’s history. Having lived in the South my entire life, I can honestly say that I’ve never met a person who owned a Confederate flag because they believed in slavery and racial divisiveness. To a person, they owned a flag because of the part it played in their heritage, both the good and the bad. There is much that can be learned from the history of that flag.
The “Confederate Flag”, a rectangular variant of the Battle Flag. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
On the flip side, the Confederate flag is a symbol of oppression to a great many Americans. It is deeply hurtful to them for good reason. It’s the kind of imagery that incites high passions. When a lone-wolf lunatic like Dylann Roof uses the flag as a symbol of the rage in his heart, there’s no denying that it’s being used as an instrument hate and divisiveness. The flag is forevermore tied to a heinous act that saw a white man kill nine innocent black people in a place of worship. That imagery will not soon fade.
Nikki Haley faced a Solomon-esque decision, and she performed admirably. There is no way to make everyone happy, and trying to do so may not have even factored into her decision to call for the flag to be removed. Her role as governor right now is to be a leader. She needs to make decisions that balance the needs of her state with the will of the people. That’s what she was elected to do, and she did it with aplomb.
Perhaps most importantly, she also deftly dealt with the professional agitators who like to swoop in when emotions are running high and wreak havoc. Look at what happened in Ferguson and Baltimore. Yes, there were locals who were genuinely angry (and many who did their community a disservice by torching it). But there were also rioters who were not locals and were paid to keep the anger going — and to make it boil over.
Nikki Haley told those types: Not in my state.
She wrested control from the agitators, and diffused a bad situation that would have almost certainly gotten worse. One thing she did not do is say that the Confederate flag should be outlawed, never to be flown again in South Carolina. Calling for the flag’s removal from statehouse grounds was a good compromise, not to mention one heck of a good strategic move.
And, man, are the agitators agitated. Because they lost on the ground, many took to Twitter to try and stir up discontent there. Curiously, many called Haley a racist, while also mocking her Indian ancestry in the same tweet.
That is the kind of crazy a strong conservative leader brings out in the left.
Nikki Haley changed her name to skate past white supremacy in order to be elected then becomes a racist. #India https://t.co/qhmF2i2zZg
— Angela Davis (@illmaticRick) June 22, 2020
Nikki Haley is willing to remove the flag now because of the threat of boycott loss of money loss of political power. — Mariam (@Mariam_Trevino) June 22, 2020
Yo, let’s not forget that Governor Nimrata “Nikki” Haley is actually Indian-American.
— Rabia (@rabzz) June 22, 2020
people in SC have been rallying for years to get the flag removed & now nikki haley gets the glory. cute. — Aristhotle (@denisehuxtable) June 22, 2020
@rwtaff Nikki Haley, an Indian, is ripping it down….all under GOP watch.
— The Black Sage (@gerpiep) June 22, 2020
slice it any way you like. nikki haley still doesnt want black Americans voting. #ConfederateFlag — jerry mander (@JerryManderMan) June 22, 2020
Seriously, fuck Nikki Haley.
— Lady Sith (@AfroStyling) June 22, 2020
Not much of a lady, actually.
Nikki Haley walked a fine line today, and there are bound to be many who are not happy with her. Some say she’s capitulating to the left. Others say she’s turning her back on her state’s history. And still others — the usual suspects — say it’s all a political ploy so she can one day move to higher office.
I say, so what? Common sense prevailed today in South Carolina. Nikki Haley should be applauded for looking out for her state and outflanking the agitators on the left.
