On July 10, 2015, the Confederate battle flag was removed from the South Carolina Statehouse in Columbia, a decision which followed the Charleston AME Church massacre, in which nine worshipers were killed a month earlier.
Then Governor, Nikki Haley, tweeted “it’s a new day in South Carolina.” Crowds cheered. But, the Heritage Act (passed in 2000), which protected the flag outside of the statehouse for decades, also protects any “state monument.” To remove the Confederate Flag at the Statehouse, lawmakers passed a bill (after 13 hours of debate) to move the flag into a museum.
Flash forward two years. After violence broke out in Charlottesville during a Unite the Right rally, cities + states around the nation are looking at their own confederate statues. Including, South Carolina.
The Heritage Act states:
“No monuments or memorials erected on public property of the State or any of its political subdivisions may be relocated, removed, disturbed, or altered. No street, bridge, structure, park, preserve, reserve, or other public area of the State or any of its political subdivisions dedicated in memory of or named for any historic figure or historic event may be renamed or rededicated.” - S.C. Code of Laws, Title 10, Section 10-1-165
To amend this law, a two-thirds vote in both chambers of the General Assembly is needed.
The Heritage Act has been cited by Clemson University as the reason why they “didn’t entertain the notion of renaming Tillman Hall,” and why Wade Hampton High School couldn’t be renamed without the support of South Carolina’s General Assembly.
In the past several years, there have been efforts to change the law, including last year, when state Senator Darrell Jackson filed a bill that would have restricted the Heritage Act to state-owned buildings, leaving the decision for other buildings + property to the local governments. It wasn’t brought to a vote.
When Gov. Henry McMaster was asked about the push to remove Confederate monuments, he said, “We have been through these issues over the years. I think our people are different.”
There isn’t word yet on if another bill to amend the Heritage Act will be brought to the General Counsel, or what the future of many S.C. confederate memorials are. But, one thing is for certain: the conversation will continue.
