S. Carolina Lawmakers Fail to Vote on Bid to Strike Confederate Colors

An agreement to lower the Confederate battle flag from atop the Statehouse died when lawmakers failed to vote on it Thursday, the last day of the session.

“So many would rather run with a racial issue than have it settled,” Democratic state Sen. Verne Smith said after a House Republican stalled the Senate-approved plan with a procedural maneuver.

The compromise had brought together grandsons of Confederate veterans and state civil rights leaders in an agreement to furl the flag that has flown above the Statehouse since 1962.

Democrats, who control the House, were divided on the issue and unable to get the votes necessary to consider it without Republican help.

The flag, with its blue X, red background and white stars, is the last Confederate battle flag flying over a state capitol. Georgia and Mississippi incorporate the banner’s design in their state flags.

The agreement would have lowered the flag but raised a similar one at Confederate monuments on Statehouse grounds. A monument would have been built to honor African Americans, and lawmakers said they would stipulate that the rebel flag honored the South’s heritage and was not racist.

Some lawmakers blamed Republican Gov. Carroll A. Campbell Jr. for failing to push House Republicans to support the compromise. He said he did what he could.