x-sender: governor.haley@sc.lmhostediq.com x-receiver: governor.haley@sc.lmhostediq.com Received: from mail pickup service by IQ12 with Microsoft SMTPSVC; Wed, 1 Jul 2015 08:00:13 -0400 thread-index: AdCz9Xxg7lJKiVIfSM6VPGl6xQYmhg== Thread-Topic: The Confederate Flag From: To: Subject: The Confederate Flag Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2015 08:00:12 -0400 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Microsoft CDO for Windows 2000 Content-Class: urn:content-classes:message Importance: normal Priority: normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.1.7601.17609 X-OriginalArrivalTime: 01 Jul 2015 12:00:13.0055 (UTC) FILETIME=[7C7B28F0:01D0B3F5] CUSTOM Mrs Kathy Sutton 989 Terry Dr. Pismo Beach CA 93449 rockymtnhorses4@aol.com 805-904-8638 GOVE The Confederate Flag Dear Governor Haley, I am greatly concerned about your reversal on your decision to remove the Confederate flag. I am concerned that pressure from a small group of people, some of which have sided with the NAACP's request for years to remove that flag, is once again trying to decide a fate for all of America, not just South Carolina. That flag is a symbol of our nation's history of a hard fought war, where over 600,000 men lost their lives. What the public needs is education. Did you know that the South called the Civil War "The War for State's Rights," while the North called the Civil War "The War of The Rebellion"? The Civil War was more about state's rights than slavery! Of course there were southern blacks who wanted to be free, but there were blacks who wanted to fight for the Confederate side. They saw the North as invaders of their homeland, and feared that the people they worked for would lose their homes and land, the very thing these blacks depended on to survive and provide for their own families. In fact, the North was also racist! Blacks who escaped there couldn't even enjoy their freedom! But I'm not trying to give you a history lesson. Just that there is way more history behind the Confederate flag. It would be an absolute shame to take it down. You may be aware that our Nation's state's have had to defend their rights even today! Our state's rights continue to be threatened, and current law boundaries pushed and tested just to see how far our current Administration can go and who is weak. Yes, it is tragic that some madman decided to shoot people in a church and involve the Confederate flag. But these are the very kind of opportunities that are used to fulfill an agenda that has nothing to do with the actual event. I'm talking about an agenda that looks down the road and wants to eventually remove our own United States flag under the guise that it offends some people, say for example the Muslims! Haven't you noticed that lately we are having to fight for our very own Nation's flag?! This recently occurred here in California at the University of Irvine. A small group of students kept taking down the American flag on their campus and leaving a note that it could offend others and make other students from foreign countries not feel welcome. They actually had a meeting on it! Well, the administration rightly received a lot of public outrage over it, from myself included, to even consider removing our flag! The ultimate victory went in favor to leave our American flag up, and the result was quick! Please, just because a crazy, sick person decides to include the image of the Confederate flag and shoot people doesn't mean the flag is a problem. The Confederate flag didn't commit the crime! It's like the flag is on trial and not the criminal! Crimes have been committed because some people hate our Nation's flag, but we don't take that down! God help us if that's the direction of the agenda in Washington D.C.! I'm a home school mom of two teenage boys, who happen to be Civil War battle reenactors, and absolutely love history. Perhaps this is where you'll find the proper perspective. Yourself, and other lawmakers, should visit a few Civil War battle reenactments and sit down and hear what the reenactors have to say. In order to reenact, a member should be well-versed in the history of the Civil War because they also interact with the public in between battles, answering questions. I strongly suggest that you visit with Civil War battle reenactors and hear what they have to say. You and other lawmakers will, hopefully, have a much better perspective after that. I grew up in Florida, lived there for 25 years. A friend had a Confederate flag on his four-wheel drive truck. He also had his horn rigged so it could play a few toots of "Dixie" when he blew the horn. I never thought of the Confederate flag as anything other than being related to the us as southern people with a history of the spirit to stand and fight for your rights. We never thought of it as racists, and the word racist never even existed in connection with that flag! Robert E. Lee knew it was a war for state's rights. Please don't take down the flag! "I wish that I owned every slave in the South. For I would free them all to avoid this war," Robert E. Lee Respectfully, Mrs. Kathy Sutton