Governor holds firm on flying Confederate flag despite NAACP urging to take it down
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated 30th July 2011Gov Nikki Haley won’t budge from her decision to keep a Confederate flag at the South Carolina Statehouse.
On Monday, NAACP President Benjamin Jealous called on Gov Haley to remove the flag, which was placed near the governor’s office in 2000.
At that time, it was the NAACP who pushed in for the flag to be removed from its perch atop the Statehouse dome.
It was relocated to a monument outside the Statehouse building, where it stands today.
NAACP boss Benjamin Jealous said Monday he finds the flag’s presence ‘perplexing,’ since Mrs Haley is the state’s first non-white governor.
Jealous said: ‘One of the most perplexing examples of the contradictions of this moment in history is that Nikki Haley, South Carolina’s first governor of color, continues to fly the Confederate Flag in front of her state’s capitol.’
Gov Haley, a Republican who was born in South Carolina, is the state’s first female to be elected governor, as well as the first of Indian descent.
Her press secretary, Rob Godfrey said the governor has no plans to revisit an issue resolved long ago.
Mr Godfrey told Fox News: ‘More than a decade ago, under the leadership of a Democratic governor, South Carolinians Republican and Democrat, black and white, came to a compromise position on the Confederate flag.’
‘Many people were uncomfortable with that compromise, but it addressed a sensitive subject in a way that South Carolina as a whole could accept.’
Gov Haley is no stranger to controversy on race issues.
On Thursday, she came under fire from Democrats after it was revealed she listed herself as ‘white’ on a 2001 voter registration form.
South Carolina Democrats accused the governor of using her heritage for political convenience.
Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian said the document shows she has trouble with the truth and highlights her own heritage when it suits her.
The governor’s office declined to comment on the Democrats’ accusations.