x-sender: governor.haley@sc.lmhostediq.com x-receiver: governor.haley@sc.lmhostediq.com Received: from mail pickup service by IQ12 with Microsoft SMTPSVC; Tue, 21 Jul 2015 14:08:28 -0400 thread-index: AdDD4D63FxQu8LpnQfyx/v3G3vT42A== Thread-Topic: Confederate flag From: To: Subject: Confederate flag Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2015 14:08:28 -0400 Message-ID: <721D3EAD0641452D815D66D3F19F6990@IQ12> 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: 21 Jul 2015 18:08:28.0686 (UTC) FILETIME=[3EC3E2E0:01D0C3E0] CUSTOM Mr. John M Blackman 113 Orchid Court Round O SC 29474 johnnyblackman35@gmail.com GOVE Confederate flag Dear Governor Haley, I am related to the oldest living Confederate veteran in SC, and I am deeply offended by your willingness to remove the flag and ignore the majority of South Carolinians, especially the ones who voted you into office. First and foremost, the flag is NOT a "racist" symbol, despite the uneducated wingnut, who decided to use it as such and murder innocent people in a church. In the Southern states at the height of the war, less than a fourth of the entire Southern populous were slaveholders. There were also black slaveholders here in the Palmetto state, a truth most people choose to ignore. Slavery was also legal longer under Old Glory, just saying. I'm sorry, I won't offer up a factual history lesson, as it's rather inconvenient; I should hope as our governor, you would have a somewhat accurate knowledge of our history, which is more than I can say for the group of nincompoops who constantly attack my family heritage, many of which you have decided to join forces with. The only "stain on our lives" is our state's legislation who caved into pressure, removed their spines, and stabbed their constituents in the back. The flag issue should have been brought to referendum, and I am extremely let down by the state's willingness to assimilate to this modern trend of unrelenting ignorance. Since the church shooting and the flag debacle, I have witnessed a great deal of black on white racism. I suppose you think it should be excused and not addressed. I am proud of of the Confederate flag and my (slave-less) family who fought under it and I am sick and tired of being mislabeled. There are many of us, Governor Haley, and shall you sit back and watch us get trod upon? And let's be real, there is no flag more "offensive" than the US flag when you truly put things into perspective. I'll spare citing examples, but I believe you get the gist of it. And the biggest reason why I would vote to keep the Confederate flag is that removing it sets forth a precedent of chaos. All the Civil War monuments are next on the list to go. It's already starting in multiple states and it's shameful and ridiculous. Many predict that they will topple like dominoes, and the federal government will snicker as they relish the erasure of an inconvenient chapter in our nation's history, despite the fact that it shields a great deal of their own wrongdoings and shortcomings. Governor Haley, when the times comes, and it will, are you willing to defend our monuments and stand with the majority of your state? Or shall you just go with the status quo and watch our heritage be destroyed? Just the thought of the state government going along with removing monuments makes me utterly sick to my stomach. I have never been so ashamed to be American and a South Carolinian. But now that your task of removing the flag is near completion, congratulations, will you now draw the line? You must. Otherwise, I suggest stepping down, and stop misleading those that supported you. It's just bad manners. And if you choose to flip flop like the majority of politicians, please do so gracefully; make it more elegant, and a little less pathetic. Sincerely, Johnny Blackman