ShiningIce
3rd Level Green Feather
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2002
- Messages
- 4,704
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- 36
ATLANTA - Georgia lawmakers have voted to scrap the Dixie cross from the state's flag, potentially heading off an economic boycott by civil rights groups outraged by the Confederate emblem.
With some black lawmakers cheering and others weeping, the Legislature voted Friday to replace the current flag with a new design, inspired by a Confederate national flag but lacking the well-known cross of stars.
"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 new flag.
Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue agreed moments later to sign the plan. The new flag will become permanent only if voters choose it over the current flag next March.
Perdue originally called for a referendum on a version of Georgia's flag that featured the Dixie cross but backed off after black lawmakers succeeded in defeating the idea.
Hours before the final votes on the flag in the House and Senate, civil rights groups promised an economic boycott if Georgia revived the Dixie cross, which many blacks lawmakers call a symbol of oppression.
The Senate voted 33-23 and the House approved the measure 91-86, with the speaker casting the deciding vote. Ninety-one votes were the simple majority needed for passage.
The temporary flag features the state's coat of arms and the words "In God We Trust" on a blue corner in the top left, with three red-and-white stripes to the right. It resembles a Confederate national flag and the pre-1956 Georgia state flag, but it doesn't have the familiar battle emblem.
Black lawmakers objected not to the Confederate roots of the temporary flag, but to the possibility of bringing back the Dixie battle cross, which was added to Georgia's flag in 1956 when an all-white Legislature was resisting integration.
"That 'X' has been in the face of people who have been at the end of a rope or in front of a burning cross," said Sen. Ed Harbison, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus. "We know we have a history, but bringing that 'X' back was totally unacceptable to us."
Southern heritage advocates, who had pushed for the 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.
Civil rights leaders promised an economic boycott if the bill was not changed to remove any chance that the Confederate emblem might be approved by referendum.
Georgia's flag was changed in 2001 to shrink the Confederate symbol, in part to avoid economic boycotts like the one targeting South Carolina, which flies the rebel banner on state Capitol grounds.
Business leaders in Atlanta have warned that boycotts could cripple tourism, Georgia's No. 2 industry, and which brings in an estimated $16 billion a year to the state.
The civil rights groups said they may still call for a boycott. The temporary flag also has Confederate roots, they said.
"This is a heinous proposal," said NAACP member Michael Bond, son of NAACP chairman Julian Bond. "It's still a Confederate flag. It's completely objectionable."
Any boycott would be announced Saturday at an NAACP meeting in Macon.
HA!!!
With some black lawmakers cheering and others weeping, the Legislature voted Friday to replace the current flag with a new design, inspired by a Confederate national flag but lacking the well-known cross of stars.
"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 new flag.
Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue agreed moments later to sign the plan. The new flag will become permanent only if voters choose it over the current flag next March.
Perdue originally called for a referendum on a version of Georgia's flag that featured the Dixie cross but backed off after black lawmakers succeeded in defeating the idea.
Hours before the final votes on the flag in the House and Senate, civil rights groups promised an economic boycott if Georgia revived the Dixie cross, which many blacks lawmakers call a symbol of oppression.
The Senate voted 33-23 and the House approved the measure 91-86, with the speaker casting the deciding vote. Ninety-one votes were the simple majority needed for passage.
The temporary flag features the state's coat of arms and the words "In God We Trust" on a blue corner in the top left, with three red-and-white stripes to the right. It resembles a Confederate national flag and the pre-1956 Georgia state flag, but it doesn't have the familiar battle emblem.
Black lawmakers objected not to the Confederate roots of the temporary flag, but to the possibility of bringing back the Dixie battle cross, which was added to Georgia's flag in 1956 when an all-white Legislature was resisting integration.
"That 'X' has been in the face of people who have been at the end of a rope or in front of a burning cross," said Sen. Ed Harbison, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus. "We know we have a history, but bringing that 'X' back was totally unacceptable to us."
Southern heritage advocates, who had pushed for the 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.
Civil rights leaders promised an economic boycott if the bill was not changed to remove any chance that the Confederate emblem might be approved by referendum.
Georgia's flag was changed in 2001 to shrink the Confederate symbol, in part to avoid economic boycotts like the one targeting South Carolina, which flies the rebel banner on state Capitol grounds.
Business leaders in Atlanta have warned that boycotts could cripple tourism, Georgia's No. 2 industry, and which brings in an estimated $16 billion a year to the state.
The civil rights groups said they may still call for a boycott. The temporary flag also has Confederate roots, they said.
"This is a heinous proposal," said NAACP member Michael Bond, son of NAACP chairman Julian Bond. "It's still a Confederate flag. It's completely objectionable."
Any boycott would be announced Saturday at an NAACP meeting in Macon.
HA!!!
