Re-affirming Economic Sanctions for South Carolina

WHEREAS, the Confederate States of America came into being by way of secession from and war against the United States of America and out of a desire to defend the right of individual states to maintain an economic system based on slave labor; and

WHEREAS, the Confederate Battle Flag was raised in the States that comprised the defunct Confederate States of America for the supposed celebration of the Centennial of the War between the States and as an unspoken symbol of resistance to the battle for civil rights and equality in the early 1960's; and

WHEREAS, the Confederate Battle Flag has been embraced as the primary symbol for the numerous modern-day groups advocating white supremacy; and

WHEREAS, the placement of the Confederate Battle Flag at the South Carolina State House with the flags of two existing governments, the United States of America and the state of South Carolina, implies sovereignty and allegiance to a non-existent nation; and

WHEREAS, the Confederate Battle Flag in its present position of display makes a statement of public policy that continues to be an affront to the sensibilities and dignity of a majority of African-Americans in the State of South Carolina; and

WHEREAS, the state of South Carolina possesses a unique linkage of heritage and family which makes South Carolina a prime destination for African-American family reunions, resulting in tourism dollars that benefit the State of South Carolina, and an estimated sixty-eight percent (68%) of all African-American family reunions are held in South Carolina; and

WHEREAS, dollars spent on tourism, conventions and meetings by African Americans, other people of conscience and corporate entities serve to enrich the State of South Carolina, the "Mother State of Secession" which continues to fly the banner of secession.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP call upon and demand the U.S. Department of Justice to remove any and all confederate flags from and on public property for being a treasonous act within this jurisdiction; and

NOW BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at its 1999 Annual Convention reaffirms its condemnation of the Confederate Battle Flag being flown over the South Carolina State Capitol and displayed within the South Carolina House and Senate Chambers, and renews its call for the removal and relocation of the Confederate Battle Flag to a place of historical rather than sovereign context; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that all Units of the NAACP shall join the South Carolina Conference of Branches in urging all families planning reunions in South Carolina to consider locations outside of the State as reunion sites until such time that the Confederate Battle Flag is removed from positions of sovereignty in the State of South Carolina; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National NAACP shall call upon other African-American National organizations, churches, and faith groups, businesses and corporations, and similar national entities of other cultural compositions that embrace freedom and justice to consider locations other than the State of South Carolina as convention or meeting sites, until such time as the Confederate Battle Flag is removed from positions of sovereignty in the State of South Carolina; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the National NAACP shall apply these economic sanctions against the State of South Carolina as well as any further measures as appropriate, commencing January 1, 2000, until such time that the Confederate Battle Flag is no longer displayed in positions of sovereignty in the State of South Carolina.