IT'S BEEN two years since the state of South Carolina finally decided to remove the rebel cross from the dome of the capitol. But the debate over the confederate flag's appropriate place is far from over. The debate now is in the private sector, and a Fortune 500 company has mandated that its employees must protest the flag. When the decision to support a symbol, even a much-detested one, is dictated by the threat of joblessness, that "decision" is rendered meaningless.
There can be little question that South Carolina did the right thing when it decided to remove the flag from its official station over the state capitol. Regardles of whether the flag is a symbol of Southern pride, it has a hurtful past. It is not only the emblem of the Confederacy, remembered more as pro-slavery than pro-state's rights, it is also a symbol that was used specifically to protest school integration. The flag can be seen as a direct affront to a large segment of South Carolina's voters, so the decision to take down the flag was the right one, both ethically and politically.
Now, however, the question is not whether the flag should fly over the capitol. It is a question of how much support, or protest, private citizens should show a private business which displays the flag prominently, has been known to sell pro-slavery religious writings and makes a mean pork sandwich.
That business is a chain of Piggie Park barbecue restaurants owned by Maurice Bessinger. Bessinger decorates his restaurants in rebel crosses and, a few years ago, was met by controversy when a columnist reported that he was selling religious tracts stating that African Americans are thankful that they were enslaved so that they could be brought to the United States. Bessinger was quoted in the article as saying, "If the Bible teaches that there is biblical slavery, then one must accept that or be against God" ("In S.C., flag dispute enters private sector," Washington Post, Sept. 1).
The debate is not whether individuals should stay away from Piggie Park based on its owner's character, or lack thereof. They probably should, but that's a decision citizens can make on their own. And that, as it turns out, is the issue.
SCANA, a large electric and gas corporation and South Carolina's only Fortune 500 company, banned its employees from parking company vehicles in Piggie Park lots or from displaying confederate flags on cars they park in the company lot. It's rare that a company should anger large numbers of both proud confederate flag wavers and staunch liberals, but SCANA has pulled it off.
Individual protest is one thing, organized boycott is even better, but company-mandated boycott is in a whole other league. The gesture means nothing because it is inspired by the threat of economic loss rather than moral indignation. In fact, it has had the opposite effect. In response to SCANA's boycott, Bessinger gives free meals to any SCANA employee who parks a company vehicle in his lots and half off to any SCANA employee regardless of where they park. The move is costing him money, but it's also making a mockery of his opponent.
Not only is SCANA's ban on Piggie Park -- and especially on rebel crosses on private cars in its parking lot -- grossly out of line, it is also grossly self-serving. The company faces discrimination lawsuits by black employees alleging harassment resulting from SCANA's racially hostile environment. According to the Post article, black SCANA employees have filed 13 lawsuits against the company citing decades of harassment, including nooses being left on trucks and white employees handing a derogatory poem to black workers.
A move that was poor judgment at best looks even worse if it is based in self-interest, and even if SCANA's sentiments were noble, the question of how they thought dictating their employees' private decisions was a good move is unclear.
Bessinger's views are repugnant, and individual protest, or organized voluntary protest, should be applauded. Rules like those at SCANA, however, are meaningless and even lean heavily toward the counter-productive.
(Megan Moyer's column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at
mmoyer@cavalierdaily.com.)
Read More
PATEL: Personal development courses support students beyond the gradebook
By Heer Patel | YesterdayThe University must rethink its approach to education beyond traditional major-specific requirements and mandate personal development courses.
EDITORIAL: Commercialization threatens U.Va.’s educational mission
By Editorial Board | 2 days agoAfter all, measuring the University’s worth in terms of accrued capital, operational efficiency and numerical rankings molds this space into just another cookie-cutter institution.
YOUNIS: Why every U.Va. student should say yes to English
By Ayat Younis | 6 days agoEvery student at the University, regardless of their primary field of study, can professionally and academically benefit from engaging with the English department.
