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Senate Could Drop Confederate Flag From Seal
October 1, 2015
State senators are scheduled next week to begin considering whether to keep the Confederate flag on the Senate’s official seal, another sign of a growing national tide against icons of the South’s rebellion in the 1860s.
The Senate Rules Committee will meet Oct. 8 to begin re-examining the current emblem of the chamber. Under Senate rules, the seal includes “a fan of the five flags which have flown over Florida” — those of the United States, Confederate States of America, France, Great Britain and Spain.
But there has been a growing backlash against Confederate symbols since June, when a man with white supremacist views opened fire at an African-American church in Charleston, S.C., killing nine people. Since then, Southern states including Florida have wrestled with how to reconcile past commemorations of “the lost cause” with shifting feelings about race and the meaning of the Civil War.
While many Southerners view displays of the Confederate banner as recognition of their ancestors’ military service and sacrifice, African-Americans and others see flying the flag as an endorsement of the brutal, slave-driven economy that was a central issue in the war.
Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, and Senate Minority Leader Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, requested in June that the committee consider whether the seal should be changed. In a memo, Gardiner did not specifically point to the Confederate flag, but wrote about how views on symbols can transform over time.
“The current Senate seal and coat of arms were first adopted in rule in 1973,” Gardiner wrote. “Florida has certainly changed a great deal since the early seventies. Just as our state seal has been revised over time, I believe a periodic review of our legislative insignia would be beneficial.”
In a separate letter to Rules Chairman David Simmons, Joyner called explicitly for “the removal of the Confederate flag from the official Senate seal.”
Gardiner asked Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, to have a recommendation ready when the next regular legislative session begins in January. Any change to the Senate seal would require a two-thirds vote of the Senate.
Other legislative efforts dealing with the flag are also underway. A pair of bills (SB 154 and HB 243) — sponsored by Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando, and Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg — would seek to ban government buildings or properties from displaying any flag used by the Confederacy during its 1860 to 1865 rebellion.
Legislative leaders have not yet scheduled either bill for a committee hearing.
Lawmakers could also consider legislation to replace a statue of Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, whose likeness is one of two sculptures that represent the state in the National Statuary Hall Collection at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C.
And the argument about how to commemorate Confederate military service has continued elsewhere. The Sons of Confederate Veterans has pushed unsuccessfully to get soldiers who fought against the Union admitted to the Florida Veterans’ Hall of Fame.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Comments
17 Responses to “Senate Could Drop Confederate Flag From Seal”
Hey, if some few people are “Offended” by the Confederate Stars & Bars then those people need to know that I am Personally Offended that they are “offended”.
MEDIA is driving the whole thing about the Confederate Flag, gun control, disarming American Citizens, wanting to take “In GOD We Trust” off our currency, banning the saying of “Merry Christmas, Happy Easter, God Bless You” and so on. Even the presidential race is reported only on personalities instead of the REAL PROBLEMS we have in our Community, State, Nation and World.
Politicians scramble around like cold butter dropped in a hot cast iron skillet and fold to the media and rush to pacify and satisfy the whiners.
Funny how no one has a problem with flying the British flag from the American Revolutionary War . Less than 100 years before the “War of Northern Aggression” known as the War between the States, or Civil war. Many lives lost also.
Any flag can be offensive.
As we proudly fly the U.S. flag and pledge allegiance to it… Think of the Native American Indians that were slaughtered under this flag that represents our Country that was stolen from them.
No flag is without bloodshed. None!
yes it does whether you like it or not it is a part of American history
There will come a day when we will take away their symbols. The so called union is diseased and in so much debt it will never be paid off, it’s days are numbered.
I placed my Confederate flag tag on my vehicle the other day, proud to fly it. My people, My south, My flag, Our values, you cannot erase or revise that.
@Mr. Carney,
Sir, I mean no disrespect. I think we disagree on a few things, and I appreciate the opportunity to discuss them with you and the others here.
I do know a bit about history but I am always looking to learn more. I know people claim that the Civil War was fought over things other than slavery. Usually they say it was fought over States’ rights. That is, they disagreed with the federal government telling states what they could and could not do. Got it. Would you agree that the primary right that the states that left the Union wanted to protect was the right to own slaves? If not, please tell me what the major issues were.
If the war was fought to continue slavery, and slavery is evil, then the war was fought with evil intent. Which part of that is wrong? I am not saying all the men who fought were evil. Just as not all the men who fought for Hitler or Napoleon or King George III were evil.
Finally, I don’t want your flag. You can have it. I just don’t want our government endorsing it in any way. That said, I don’t think removing it from the Senate’s seal is necessary because it is a flag that flew over Florida. As Greg said, you can’t change history by removing the flag. More’s the pity.
@Simmer Down
Gimme a break. You know that if you give government an inch that they will take 10 miles.
Besides…the ban has already begun. Look at all of the suspension of students who display/wear the Confederate flag in various parts of the country.
I’m not getting emotional…I’m digging in. I’m not giving one more inch to the PC crowd and I’m facing them with a defiant finger in the air.
It would be good if they remove it. That flag doesn’t represent anything American.
There are those who would say they are offended by the flag….why would their opinion be any worthier than those of us who see the flag as a source of heritage? Some believe the flag stood for enslavement but others have just as deep a conviction that it stood for honor and heritage. Furthermore, @ Simmer Down, you seem intelligent enough to understand your history therefore I would assume you know the war was fought over many issues.
I find it offensive you would say or suggest that those who fought for the South did so with evil intent but I’m not calling for your post to be taken down in that it is your opinion so leave my flag alone.
@Sedition,
Nobody is trying to ban flying the flag. You know that, right? What is happening is that the government is not going to sponsor the flag. Fly it from your rooftop or you can have it tattooed on your forehead if you want. Knock yourself out.
The way to stop this is not to rant and cry. You should point out the atrocities committed under the other flags that are on the seal. The issue with the Confederate flag is that it is associated with slavery, right? Well, the Spanish flag can be associated with the Inquisition. Every flag on there can be tied to some rotten things. Ask your legislators if one atrocity is worse than another. Don’t get emotional, get smart.
Peace!
What I don’t understand is how anyone with a logical mind can think that the removal of a symbol (Flag) is going to change history. Good or bad, it is part of history and you cannot re-write history by removing a symbol.It would be the same a burning all history books because they do not say what some people want them to say. It still does not change history or the facts and the things that happened. There are symbols that exist today that I don’t like or agree with what they stand for, however, that is what America is suppose to stand for, the right and freedom to believe in what you want to believe in, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, any many of our other freedoms that are slowly but surely being taken away from us. I personally don’t believe that the actions of one person in South Carolina or even many in the U.S. can change history. History is the past and cannot be changed no matter what you do. Accept it, good or bad, leave it alone, and move on. The history that matters now is the future and what we make of it. Move forward and stop trying to change the past. We should all work together to make a better history for our children and guide them to do the same.
To EMD and W.M. Carney, you couldn’t have stated it better.
@EMD
Enslave us. Hilarious. Oh, you weren’t being ironic? Now it’s sad.
I say we keep the Confederate flag and drop the senate.
The more you try to ban it, the more I will make sure it is still visible. To hell with political correctness and “hurt feelings”. No one has a constitutional right to not be offended or to not have their feelings hurt.
Political Correctness, isn’t always CORRECT!
As my Grandfather why do we worry about the gnat we swolled when we are gagging on a camel?
Ignorant pawns serving the political correctness of those who seek to enslave us.
@ William Carney
Sir, I applaud your suggestion to have people get involved in the political process by contacting their legislators. Well done.
I disagree with you on a few points. First, I think it is about the flag. I respect what the flag represents to you. I respect the men who fought and died on both sides of the War Between the States. Brave men. Can you admit that other people might view the flag differently? To other people it represents oppression. I don’t think removing the flag is an attack on Christianity, the conservative South, or all that is good in our country. When you say things like that it seems desperate.
As far as succession being similar to leaving a club you no longer want to be a part of, I like the analogy. In my opinion, if that were the case I still think the war should have been fought. If you want to leave a club so that you can go and do immoral things I think the world has a responsibility to stop you. The war shouldn’t have fought to uphold the Union, but to stop slavery.
Finally, I do feel some shame at the actions of my ancestors. How can you not? It was a different time and our sensibilities have changed. Things that were accepted in the past are clearly wrong. I hope we’re moving forward.
Peace!
Today it’s our flag, tomorrow it will be your flag, your church, your cherished symbols.
When/where will the average person finally draw the line and say “enough?”
Contact your politicians, express your opposition to this senseless political correctness.
The more politicians take down the flag the more heritage groups such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans will stand up and place flags and monuments in defense of our heritage. This isn’t about a flag, this is about attacking symbols of the conservative South, attacking Christianity and attacking all that is good in our country.
BTW the Sons of Confederate Veterans call it the War Between The States because until 1861 there was no law, court decisions or precedent regarding states leaving the Union. These states did not view Secession as rebellion but as a God given right to leave the Union much as someone would choose to leave a club.
Haven’t we all had enough of Obama and his cultural Marxist telling us to be ashamed of our grandfathers and our way of life? It’s time to stand up and
Vote the bums out!