1999-3

A resolution to call for the removal of the Confederate Flag on the Statehouse of South Carolina. LSM-USA calls for the removal of any flag or symbol on a government building which represents a defunct government, and is adopted by any persons and groups as a symbol of hate.

 

WHEREAS, the Confederate States of America has not been a sovereign government since the end of the Civil War and the signing of the Treaty of Appomattox Court House of April 1865; and

WHEREAS, the Confederate Flag represents no sovereign government; and

 

WHEREAS, many hate groups have adopted the Confederate Battle Flag as their symbol; and

 

WHEREAS, the flying of a flag over a government building implies allegiance or support; and

 

WHEREAS, the Confederate Flag was raised in commemoration of the Confederate States of America and as an unspoken symbol against the civil rights struggle in the 1960's; and

 

WHEREAS, Lutheran Student Movement-USA does not affirm the practice of racial discrimination, believing it to be contrary to the Word of God;

 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Lutheran Student Movement-USA support the removal of the Confederate Battle Flag from the capital dome of the South Carolina State House;

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Lutheran Student Movement-USA boycott South Carolina tourism by not having any national gatherings affiliated with LSM-USA in South Carolina until the Confederate Flag is taken down;

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be mailed to the Honorable James Hodges, Governor of South Carolina; the Honorable David Wilkins, Speaker of the South Carolina House; the Honorable Robert Peeler, Lieutenant Governor and President of the South Carolina Senate; Dr. Julian Bond, Chair of the Board for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Bishop David Donges of the South Carolina Synod, ELCA; and Dr. Arthur W. Scherer, President of the Southeastern District of the Lutheran Church­Missouri Synod.

 

Author:             Russell Peek, Winthrop University; Rock Hill, South Carolina LSM-USA National Secretary