WAPO’s Kathleen Parker on the flag: “The past may not be past, as William Faulkner put it. But it sure seems to be leaving.”
Dr. Quick lives in South Carolina where he provides medical advice to diabetics at his website “d-is-for diabetes.” He is also a frequent defender and critic of this site’s criticism of South Carolina. Bill emailed me this piece by Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post. I am posting it in full because I assume it represents some of Bill’s own feelings as a resident of the state.
“As I watched the broadcast of the Confederate battle flag being brought down from its post on the South Carolina statehouse grounds Friday morning, my thoughts went to Gen. Robert E. Lee, who surely would have raised a toast to this new day.”
“Yes, you read correctly.”
“The renowned general who surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in 1865 was no fan of the flag after the war. Not only did he encourage his fellow Confederates to furl their flags, but he also didn’t want any displayed at his funeral. None was.”
“Lee also opposed the building of memorials to Confederate soldiers, fearing that they would stir more division and resentment. Thus, we can infer that he would have been disappointed by the flag’s resurrection in South Carolina and elsewhere. He was prescient in imagining the sort of divisiveness we’ve witnessed as relentless rebels stage heritage claims and others wave the banner as a symbol of racial hostility, if not hate. “
“Friday’s ceremony in Columbia was brief, dignified and profoundly moving for the many gathered, as well as those watching from afar. Gov. Nikki Haley (R), surrounded by fellow officials and lawmakers, looked resplendent in a white suit that was reminiscent of a white flag offered in surrender and in peace. I don’t mean the South’s surrender to the North, or of the Sons of Confederate Veterans to the NAACP, which has fought for the lowering of the flag in South Carolina for more than 20 years.”
“It was the surrender of injured pride to the cause of the greater good. It was the sublimation of “I” for the liberation of “we.””
“South Carolina’s better angels were tapped by the departing souls of nine people gunned down while praying in the historic Mother Emanuel church not far from where the first shot of the Civil War was fired. Only silence can capture the totality of so much suffering, forgiveness, surrender, reconciliation and grace.”
“Adding to the layers of symbolism, it was Haley, an Indian American and the first female governor of the state, who called for the flag to come down. Although she once supported the flag as a part of history, Haley recognized the urgency of its removal as so many others finally did. It may have been overdue, as critics who never take a vacation will say, but it is done.”
“Relief.”
“Personally, I have found an abundance of peace in this gesture. I know I’m not alone in having sometimes felt embarrassed to say I’m from South Carolina, especially knowing the eye-rolling that inevitably follows. Today, not so. Embarrassment has been displaced by pride in the unity and fellowship demonstrated these past few weeks. I am especially proud of my state’s leaders, who asserted by their actions that we are, first, fellow Americans.”
“To non-South Carolinians, this may seem much ado about something that never should have been. As in, what took you so long? Or, why was the Confederate flag raised there in the first place? This is a rhetorical question because we know that it was put there in 1961 to protest the unraveling of Jim Crow. Though officially flown to commemorate the Civil War centennial , the flag was never lowered.”
“Ever since, it was an insistent, rippling reminder to all who passed that South Carolina “officially” preferred the Old South, which did, in fact, include human bondage. As such, it was a symbolic codification of an attitude that can only be called racist. Its final insult was to wave above the casket bearing state Sen. Clementa Pinckney as his body was carried to the capitol building one last time.”
“Effective Friday, the hell-no-we-ain’t-fergettin’ crowd no longer controls the message. Whether this symbolic gesture will have a lasting effect remains to be seen, but I predict it will.”
“Already, the University of South Carolina is busy creating a program modeled after the University of Mississippi’s William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation. Susan Glisson, executive director of the Winter program, is meeting with USC officials later this month to explain how “The Welcome Table’’ template works to facilitate honest, productive conversations among blacks and whites at the local level.”
“The operative philosophy, Glisson says, is the politics of invitation rather than the politics of opposition. Perhaps when Glisson wraps up in South Carolina, she could visit the U.S. Congress.”
“In the meantime, may the Emanuel Nine rest in peace — and long may the American flag wave.”
As usual, Stephen manages to mangle the truth in this reposting of Kathleen Parker’s article, “A new day in South Carolina as the Confederate battle flag comes down”, by neglecting to give the correct title of her essay at the Washington Post, by not linking to it http://www.washingtonpost.com/…/e519f21a-2740-11e5-aae2… and by inserting a bad link to my website, which is at d-is-for-diabetes.com. The title of her essay most definitely was not “In Praise of Deleting a Damned Flag”, and I did not author the essay as he leaves the impression with the reader of his blogpost.
I have asked him by e-mail to correct these deliberately misleading errors, but will not hold my breath waiting for him to make any corrections.
I was away till now but did see Bill’s rants on FB:
Stephen Schwartz The title of the post is mine as is the convention. The article is credited with the link Bill provided. The link in the box describing him is one I have used before. If he wants it corrected he can just post the corrected one here and I will change the text box.
Like · 4 hrs
Bill Quick If anyone wanted to be misleading, it would be hard to do a better job! Your title no way reflects what Kathleen Parker wanted to get across. There is no link to the WPost article. And the link to my website is mangled: it should be to d-is-for-diabetes.com. Finally, Stephen Schwartz knows VERY WELL that the way he’s set up the story, it looks like it was me, not Kathleen Parker, who authored the essay.
D-is-for-Diabetes: A fabulous website for people with diabetes.
D-is-for-Diabetes: A fabulous website for…
D-IS-FOR-DIABETES.COM|BY WILLIAM QUICK, MD, FACP, FACE AND STEPHANIE SCHWARTZ, RN, MPH
Stephen Schwartz Bill QUICK honestly you seem to have a problem. I credited you because you sent it to me and I know you have a love for South Carolina. The piece seemed to me to be a good expression of the exhausted happiness people are feeling. I hope you feel that too.
Bill Quick Stephen Schwartz – Sorry, but it’s YOU that has the problem. I did NOT write the essay, and you should have given credit to the actual author, instead of making it appear to the naive reader that I had authored it. You could have said “My brother-in-la…See More
Stephen Schwartz I did not goof I just reposted your email. My internet has been down all day or I would have fixed the link to your site.
Ms. Parker sadly states “Whether this symbolic gesture will have a lasting effect remains to be seen, but I predict it will.”
I predict “it” will not.
I note three things:
1. The continued presence of a wannabe Confederate General and impersonator of slave owner as the Halley appointed President of the College of Charleston.
2. The effort by Gov. Halley and her GOP cohorts to replace workman’s compensation in their state with an obligation of the owner to provide health care for his or her injured workers. (I almost typed the s word.)
3. the absence of any of the state’s white leaders at the ceremony where the dmaned flag was taken down.
William Quick’s newest trick is sending me personal emails with a tecxt claiming he has “copyrighted” them and therefore they can not be reproduced. Fore the record, he has been informed that I reserve the right to pubish anhy email l he sends me.
Here are the most recent: William Quick
5:45 AM (3 hours ago)
to me
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Stephen:
Thank you for correcting most of the problems I pointed out in your posting at
http://handbill.us/?p=56323
However, you have multiple mistakes in your latest comment that need correction:
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1) Our governor’s name is Haley, not Halley.
2) There indeed were “white leaders” at the ceremony. Amongst others:
Former Gov. Beasley
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/07/10/watch-live-as-the-confederate-flag-comes-down-in-south-carolina/ (photo 11)
Mayor Joe Riley of Charleston
http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/29508028/confederate-flag-could-be-removed-from-statehouse-by-friday
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3) It was the CofC Trustees, not the Governor, who appointed Glenn McConnell as President
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/college-of-charleston-president-hiring
4) The Governor did not propose the WC supplement. And it was NOT proposed as a replacement: (“According to a statement from ARAWC, the South Carolina Option will not replace workers’ compensation, but instead act as a “competitive pressure on the system to produce better outcomes for the primary stakeholder in the process — the employee.””)
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2015/06/10/371088.htm
Please get your facts straight.
Bill
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More Bill Quick. I asked hime to email me who thes eother prominetn white folks were. Non of the emdia I read even cited the tow he mentions and the photos seem oddly Blackish.
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Steve:
I never said, nor did I in any way mean to imply, that
only two white officials showed up when the damned flag was finally lowered .. one was the progressive mayor of Charleston the other a former Governor.
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What I said was, to be precise, “amongst others”:
There indeed were “white leaders” at the ceremony. Amongst others:
Former Gov. Beasley
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/07/10/watch-live-as-the-confederate-flag-comes-down-in-south-carolina/ (photo 11)
Mayor Joe Riley of Charleston
http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/29508028/confederate-flag-could-be-removed-from-statehouse-by-friday
You lie, and don’t give a damn for the truth.
Bill
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