Wow! I didn't know that Gen. Forrest invented the Confederate flag for the KKK after the Civil War!
The war on Southern Heritage continues.
Posted on 08/15/2002 4:35:33 AM PDT by aomagrat
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Scana Corp. employees have been told to keep their Confederate flag paraphernalia off company property.
The corporation, which is one of South Carolina's largest, also has ordered employees not to drive company vehicles onto any of Maurice Bessinger's barbecue restaurants, which prominently display the Confederate flag, The (Columbia) State reported Thursday.
"Both the flag and Maurice Bessinger are divisive issues," said Scana spokeswoman Cathy Love. "For us to continue to be successful, we must have healthy, collaborative relationships with customers and co-workers. Divisive activities that disrupt harmony in the workplace are bad for business."
Love didn't say whether Scana would fire workers for displaying the Confederate flag. She said any flag display "will be appropriately addressed by the company."
Scana, a holding company for South Carolina Electric & Gas and other companies, has 5,480 employees, including 2,219 in the Columbia area.
Love said Scana employees still will be permitted to eat at Bessinger's during lunch hour. But they'll be expected to park company vehicles off Bessinger's property, she said.
If one of Bessinger's restaurants has an electrical service problem, Scana vehicles can go on his property, she said.
Bessinger has been a part of the Confederate flag debate for several years.
After pressure from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and other groups, the Legislature removed the Confederate flag from the Statehouse dome and the chambers of the General Assembly in 2000. As part of the compromise, a similar flag was raised at the Confederate Soldier Monument on Capitol grounds.
In response, Bessinger said he was removing the U.S. flag from his Midlands restaurants and replacing them with Confederate and state flags.
Bessinger has sued major retailers who remove his sauce from their shelves, saying his products were dropped because of his political and religious views.
In his new self-published book, Bessinger claims that black Americans preferred segregation.
Although many state business leaders worked to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse dome, Scana's action moves the state's long-standing battle over the Confederate flag to the business arena in dramatic fashion.
Ike McLeese, president and chief executive of the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce, the new flag ban might be an effort to head off further problems, citing some already-publicized racial problems in Scana's work force.
Earlier this year, a group of black SCE&G employees filed suit against the company, alleging it denied promotions to black workers and did little to counter racial insults and pranks by white co-workers. The company has denied the allegations.
Love said employee concerns triggered Scana's action, but she declined to offer details.
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who is black and represents the largely black 6th District, said, "Scana's action is to be applauded." Clyburn said the flag originally was promoted by the founder of the Ku Klux Klan, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and used by Klan forces for years.
Support for the Confederate flag has kept the banner flying in a visible position in front of the Statehouse.
U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., is white and represents the largely white 2nd District. While a state senator, he defended flying the Confederate flag from the State House dome and attended pro-flag rallies. He sees the flag as a symbol of heritage.
"I understand private companies have the right to make policy decisions," Wilson said about the bumper sticker ban. "But I would feel that one is inappropriate in that it violates freedom of speech."
Love stressed the ban doesn't prevent workers from expressing views on their own time and away from company property.
"We are addressing issues related to Scana property, both at our physical work locations and regarding where our property goes."
The directives triggered outrage from a Confederate heritage group.
"Scana's actions are an example of anti-Southern bigotry. We would live in a far better place if we all just tried to get along," said Don Gordon, commander of the 250-plus-member Wade Hampton Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The Columbia chapter is among the state's largest.
Gordon said his group will take action, possibly including a lawsuit, against Scana.
"This is a freedom of speech issue," he said. "It has fallen to the Sons of Confederate Veterans to defend our liberty."
Wow! I didn't know that Gen. Forrest invented the Confederate flag for the KKK after the Civil War!
The war on Southern Heritage continues.
Translation: "We have been threatened by the NAACP and other racial shakedown groups, so we have decided to betray our WHITE heritage since we don't have the courage to defend it. We don't mind pissing white boys off because the media don't care about them and won't spank us for that."
Incidentally, this did not work at OUC (a florida power company). Last year the "diversity patrol" went in the parking lot and found cars with Confederate flags, stickers, etc. The company tried to fire a guy with a CBF on his truck, but ultimately backed down due to free speech issues.
As for Piggy Park, last time is was in SC, I ate at Maurice's and bought some great bbq sauce. The employee of the month was a young black woman.
The real racists are the ones spreading slanderous lies about Southern Heritage.
How nice of them.
This ignorance just shows management problems. Shouldn't they be worried about business problems and opportunties instead of which stickers on employee cars?
It's good, ya'll!
This flag is part of the U.S. military history. It was actually the Confederate Navy Flag, called the Navy Jack. It was used at sea from 1863 onward. So lets just "whitewash" (pardon the pun) history to make a select group of people feel better about themselves. Next we'll be hearing that Wal-Mart will no longer sell white sheets because the Klan promoted them.
I think Rep. Clyburn would better serve his constituents by focusing on their current delima of high rates of unwed mothers, illiteracy and high rates of incarceration. In the grand scheme of things, I think the flag issue is pretty minor.
Tell me again, just who are the racists?
Bwahhahahaa! Good one.
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