(GA) Legislature approves new flag; no chance for vote on Confederate emblem

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | 4.25.03

[mhking]

[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 4/26/03 ]

Legislature approves new flag; no chance for vote on Confederate emblem

The Associated Press

The Georgia Legislature approved a new state flag Friday and removed any chance that the Confederate battle emblem could be restored to the state banner.

If approved by the governor, the new flag will echo a Confederate national flag, but without the familiar Dixie cross, which black lawmakers called a symbol of oppression.

Next March, Georgia voters will choose between the temporary flag and the current Georgia flag. But there will never be a vote on the old state flag and its Confederate battle cross.

Black lawmakers cheered and some wept when the proposal passed. The Senate approved it 33-23, and the House approved it by the narrowest margin, 91-86, with the speaker casting the deciding vote. The 91 votes were the minimum needed for passage.

"This gives the people a flag based on history, but yet looking to the future," said Democratic Sen. George Hooks, a white Democrat who helped design the temporary banner.

Southern heritage advocates, who have been calling for a statewide referendum on the Confederate battle emblem flag, called the new flag a betrayal.

"We'll be making our displeasure known in short order," said Rusty Henderson of the Heritage Preservation Association.

Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue had called for a yes-no vote on the temporary flag. Then, if the temporary flag lost, voters would have had a chance to vote on the Confederate battle emblem flag.

But the flag bill sponsor, Rep. Glenn Richardson, R-Dallas, indicated the governor likely would be willing to sign the bill as approved by both chambers.

"It was as tight as it gets," Richardson said. "Georgia's divided; it's obvious we need to have a vote on this."

Civil rights leaders had denounced Perdue's initial plan and promised an economic boycott if the bill was not changed to remove any chance to vote on a Confederate emblem.

Georgia's flag was changed in 2001 to shrink the Confederate symbol partly to avoid economic boycotts like the one aimed at South Carolina, which flies the rebel banner on state Capitol grounds.

Business leaders in Atlanta have warned the boycotts could cripple tourism, Georgia's No. 2 industry, credited with bringing $16 billion a year to the state.

The civil rights groups said they may call for a boycott if any referendum on the flag is approved. The temporary flag also has Confederate roots, they said.

"This is a heinous proposal," said NAACP member Michael Bond, who is the son of NAACP chairman Julian Bond. "It's still a Confederate flag. It's completely objectionable."

Any boycott would be announced Saturday after an NAACP meeting in Macon.

[stand watie]

YEP!

there was SOME interest about 25 years ago in doing just that (the committee even picked out county courthouses that would serve as temporary statehouses, until others could be built.), but it came to nothing.

FRee dixie,sw

[Paul C. Jesup]

The NAACP won't stop until the state flag is a picture of Martin Luther King

Nope, the NAACP will not be happy until we are all forced to literally bow down to a flag with Jesse Jackson's face on it as we are lead to the death camps.

And I'm not joking here.

[4CJ]

We'll have our "old" flag. This is just ammunition for the defeat of leftist idiots. Too many have drawn the line. Unlike the wimpy legislators, most Georgians have spines.

[stand watie]

very TRUE!

sonny will wish his nose wasn't seen to be growing, too.

FRee dixie,sw

[two23]

What happened to "In God We Trust" printed on the white bar of the new flag, that I saw on the news a few weeks ago?

[ampat]

The approval vote came with just enough votes to pass. My what a coincidence. Obviously there were more GA politicians who would have voted for the change, but didn't because they might lose reelection votes-Politics as usual, not reflective of our representative republic.

[Moose4]

I'm just curious why they didn't go back to the 1920-1956 flag instead of this new design? They're pretty much similar except for the bottom stripe extending the length of the flag, and the state seal being gold-on-blue instead of on a white background. But somebody had to "improve" on it, I guess. The 1920-1956 flag looks better IMO.

BTW, my wife and I were in Georgia this weekend (Perry, to be exact, 30 miles south of Macon). Once you get away from the liberal enclaves around Atlanta, you will see far more 1956-2001 flags flying than you will any other variant. My wife lost count trying to count them as we got off Interstate 20 and headed across Lake Oconee, down through Eatonton and Gray to Macon and then on to Perry. They're everywhere, hanging in windows, flying off front porches, on big flagpoles in front yards.

Sonny Perdue is (I think) from Middle Georgia, and knows this. The folks down there won him that election. If he doesn't permit the 1956-2001 banner to be part of a referendum, there is going to be a backlash among the rural voters. It may not be as publicized as the NAALCP race whores screaming in front of the cameras in Atlanta, but it will happen. And it may condemn Perdue to being a one-term governor if it does.

The screaming irony about this is that either the 1920-1956 design, or this new design, would probably win anyway. Nobody likes King Roy's Placemat, and you know no self-respecting liberal is going to vote for the 1956-2001 flag, and there's enough liberals in Georgia now to vote down that flag. After a referendum, Georgia would have the same flag, Southern Cross or no Southern Cross...but God forbid the race pimps in Atlanta let a bunch of redneck white folk vote for "their" flag, eh? Sickening.

}:-)4

[4CJ]

Before the past elections - when King Roy was kicked out - I saw thousands of yard signs/billboards advocating the people's choice in the flag that flies over our great state.

I never once saw yard signs/billboards from teachers/educators or any other group. I now they were just as mad and King Roy, but the flag issue hit a lot of Georgians in the face. This issue is not over.