South Carolina Refuses to Lower Flags to Honor Rosa Parks

[Nia Imani]

South Carolina Refuses to Lower Flags to Honor Rosa Parks
Nov. 4 -- President Bush called for all U.S. flags over public buildings to be lowered to half-staff Wednesday, the day of Rosa Parks' funeral.

Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina did not listen.

Citing the South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 10-1-161, the governor, through his spokesperson, said he had no authority to lower the flag. State law allows the flag to be lowered for the deaths of certain public officials, South Carolina military people who have died in combat and on Memorial Day.

Sanford's reasoning, however, drew quick criticism.

"At some point, you use common sense and common decency," state Rep. Leon Howard, D-Richland, told The State newspaper. "It's a lack of respect for the state. It's embarrassing."

Others felt the move wasn't just disrespectful, but also political.

"It just seems as though some rules are convenient when you want to hide behind them," state Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Columbia, told The Greenville News. "I just wish in hindsight that he would have just done it. I think he could have."

State Rep. Fletcher Smith, D-Greenville, told reporters that, even with the law in place, "it would have been nice for the governor to have symbolically recognized the person who got the ball rolling toward integrating our society."

The South Carolina Legislature passed a special resolution at the time of Pope John Paul II's death earlier this year, allowing the flag to be lowered. Sanford, relatively new to the office, also lowered the flag without any special resolution after the space shuttle Columbia crashed in 2003.

>> Do Something
Contact Gov. Mark Sanford and let him know how you feel about his decision not to lower the flag to honor Rosa Parks.

Other states, including Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho and Texas, did lower their flags to honor Rosa Parks. Did your state fail to do so? E-mail and let us know.

Source: http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=1328
http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=1328

[South Carolina lowered its flag for an entire month when Ronald Reagan
died. Proof that SC is one of the racist states in the U.S.]