“I got to have a good reason to change what it is, because right now what we have is a result of compromise and that should be respected.”
South Carolina Republican Rep. Mick Mulvaney says the Confederate battle flag at the state capitol grounds is the "result of a compromise" that should be respected, and he's not sure if the flag should be removed.
"Here is the starting point for that debate and you may remember this, not everybody listening would remember this," Mulvaney said in an interview on WRHI Monday. "The reason the flag is where it is was the result of a compromise. Something that is all too rare in my business. It was part of a compromise that I wasn't there and I didn't vote on it at the time but it was predated my presence in Columbia by just a couple years.
"That had nearly 100% of support. Republicans, Democrats, white, blacks, take the flag off the dome, put it on the monument and then create the African-American monument that is there today," Mulvaney continued. "So I think the starting point for debate needs to recognize the fact that things are like they are on the statehouse grounds as the result of compromise. And I think it's important to recognize that."
Mulvaney said he was "saddened by the fact that we are going to focus immediately it seems, before the funeral has even started we have already started talking about things that can divide us on things that can divide us and things that are negative instead of focusing on this tremendous expression of love and faith and forgiveness that the families showed last week at the hearing for the young man."
"We have a flag on the statehouse grounds that some people think is divisive yet we had no race riots they don't have that flag in Ferguson, Missouri they had race riots," he continued. "They don't have that flag in Baltimore, Maryland yet they had race riots so maybe the flag isn't the heart of the matter here. Maybe it's the community that is the heart of the matter. I'm open to talking about it, I'm open to having the debate if this compromise is something folks want to talk about, lets do that."
Mulvaney said he welcomed the debate over the flag, but that debate should be between South Carolinians. He said the state should "not let Al Sharpton drive the debate in South Carolina" or "make decision based on reactionary principles during an emotional time. If you want to have the debate, lets have it in a reasoned fashion."
"None of their business," he added when asked about Al Shaprton and Jesse Jackson.
Mulvaney said we should also listen to what African-American members of the state legislature have to say. "Lets let South Carolinians have this debate," he said.
Asked if he would change his position if the flag should move, he said, "I don't know. I got to have a good reason to change what it is, because right now what we have is a result of compromise and that should be respected."
Source BuzzFeed - Politics http://ift.tt/1HgWXdl
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