pinion: What’s in a flag– reflections on race in South Carolina – HS Insider quotes Professor C. Bradley Thompson, Executive Director of the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism:
“I think it’s entirely appropriate for the state government to take down the Confederate Flag from government buildings,” Thompson said. “I don’t see what relevance it has to be flown on any government building, and given its history, I think there’s very good reason to not want to fly it. That said, I do know that a lot of South Carolinians, white and black, have a great affection for the Confederate Flag and, for them, it has nothing to do with what it’s often portrayed as representing. So there’s a culture clash, I think, between those who still want to be able to fly it either privately or on war memorials and those don’t.” “I think the very best thing that has come out of this controversy is a conversation about the meaning of that flag. I think that’s an important conversation to have and I don’t think it’s one that people have had for a very long time.”