Ohio Senate Government Oversight Committee

Sponsor Testimony

Senator Charleta B. Tavares

Senate Bill 280

Ohio Senate Government Oversight Committee

November 16, 2016

Good morning Chairman Coley, Ranking member Yuko, and members of the Government Oversight Committee. Senator Thomas and I are here to give testimony on Senate Concurrent Resolution 7.SCR 7 was drafted in response to the shooting at the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church when white supremacist Dylan Roof opened fire and killed nine people including the senior pastor and South Carolina State Senator Clementa Pinckney. In the aftermath of the shooting it was found that Roof had taken several photos holding the rebel flag. SCR 7 would urge government to discontinue issuances that contain the rebel flag, urge governments that either flies the rebel fag or a flag containing rebel flag imagery to remove those flags, calls on state governments to redesign state flags that have imagery containing the rebel flag, urges Ohio retailers to remove inventory that contains rebel flag imagery, and calls on the South Carolina General Assembly to remove the rebel flag from state property. While South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and the South Carolina General Assembly have since removed the rebel flag from public property, Senator Thomas and I still believe the other provisions are still important and warrant discussion.

The Confederate or “rebel” flag that most Americans today are familiar with was not one of the flags that were used to represent the Confederacy. Rather, the flag that we call the confederate flag was actually the battle flag of General Robert E. Lee’s Northern Virginia Army. When the flag was flown in battle it represented people who were prepared to go to war and give up their lives to preserve the institution of slavery. South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama outright mention slavery as their reason for leaving the United States in their declarations of succession. Leaders in the confederacy continued to mention slavery as the main reason for fighting the Civil War. Shortly before the Civil War began, Confederate Vice-President Alexander Stephens gave the now infamous “Cornerstone Speech”. In the speech Stephens outlines why the confederacy exists:

Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.

The Civil War was fought over slavery and the rebel flag is symbolic of that fight. In fact Robert E. Lee, who commanded the army which flew the rebel flag, made it a priority to capture free blacks whom he considered “contraband” so they could be returned to the south to be re-enslaved.

After the Civil War had ended, the rebel flag disappeared for quite some time until its resurrection in the late 1940’s. The rebel flag reemerged as a symbol for those who were against the growing movement to end segregation and secure the protection of the civil rights of African-Americans. The rebel flag is a symbol that is revered by the Ku Klux Klan, white nationalists and supremacists, and other groups of people whose views we find abhorrent. While Senator Thomas and I understand that people who choose to fly the confederate flag are not necessarily racist and may argue that it is about heritage and not hate, they should recognize that the heritage of the flag is about defending the belief that one group of people is inferior to another. That we are not all created equal and America is stronger when we are divided.

No state or government entity that believes that it has a duty to represent all people no matter their race, color, or creed should fly a flag that represents a battle that would see African Americans in bondage. No state or government entity that believes all men are created equal should fly a flag that represents a rallying cry to the idea of “separate but equal”. A flag of this nature does not belong on any states’ property and should be removed immediately as it undermines the commitment to forming a more perfect union. SCR 7 asks that Ohio take a stand and urge states who still display part of or all of the rebel flag to cease from doing so. In July of 2015, Ohio took a bold step and banned the sale of confederate merchandise and display of the rebel flag at the Ohio State Fair. SCR7 asks Ohio retailers to go one step further and remove items from their inventory that contain images of the rebel flag.

America cannot hide from its dark racial past and the rebel flag is a part of that history. The rebel flag however, belongs in a museum. It does not belong on merchandise on our store shelves and it certainly should not be flown on state property. The evils that the flag represents are still alive and well and no government entity should be party to it. Perhaps we should listen to General Lee who after the Civil War was over, opposed both displaying the rebel flag and erecting monuments in honor of confederate generals:

I think it wiser moreover not to keep open the sores of war, but to follow the examples of those nations who endeavoured to obliterate the marks of civil strife and to commit to oblivion the feelings it engendered.

Chairman Coley and members of the Ohio Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee, I thank you for your attention to this issue and ask for your favorable consideration and passage of SCR 7. Senator Thomas and I would be happy to answer your questions at this time.