Confederate flag supporters picket S.C. utility
By The Associated Press
08.21.02
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A handful of Confederate flag supporters picketed outside South Carolina Electric & Gas headquarters yesterday to protest a flag-ban policy by the utility's parent company.
"To me, it is a symbol — an international symbol — of resistance to government tyranny," said 64-year-old Frank Abernathy, who stood on the downtown street corner with a large Confederate flag waving over his shoulder.
The protest came after The State newspaper reported last week that Scana Corp., the state's largest utility and owner of SCE&G, had warned employees not to bring Confederate flag paraphernalia onto company property. Scana also said employees could not drive company vehicles to barbecue restaurants owned by Maurice Bessinger, an outspoken flag supporter.
Many blacks and civil rights groups say the flag is an offensive reminder of slavery. Bessinger also has come under fire for literature in his restaurants, including a tract that suggests Africans liked slavery.
The newspaper report prompted outrage by state Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, who threatened to propose legislation to deny state contracts to any company that "tramples on free speech" or discriminates against businesses.
McConnell, who owns a Confederate memorabilia store, said his proposal also would deprive Scana of its noncompetitive, monopoly status and open competition to other utilities.
George and Frances Bell traveled from Aiken County yesterday to picket the company.
"Scana opened this bag of worms," said George Bell, 74, waving two small flags.
He said he wanted to voice his concern about the policy before he's told to take the Confederate flag off his front porch when a black meter reader from Scana visits his property. "We thought we'd better nip it in the bud," Bell said.
In a letter to McConnell on Monday, Scana CEO William Timmerman denied there is a written policy that specifically bans the Confederate flag or prevents workers from taking company trucks to Bessinger's barbecue restaurants.
"We do not have any written policy on what specific symbols, actions, dress or behavior is inappropriate for the workplace," Timmerman said.
Instead, he said, divisive symbols of all kinds are discouraged and complaints will be investigated whenever they arise in order to preserve employee morale and to head off potential litigation.
Among the items he listed are anti-union signs put up by nonunion workers or suggestive calendars or posters, just to name a few.
"As you can see, no one symbol or behavior has been singled out for special attention," he wrote, adding that nothing in the policy is new.
"No new announcement has been made banning any specific symbol or behavior. Certainly no employee who displays a state-issued license plate with a Confederate flag or a membership decal from a heritage group on their private vehicle would be disciplined," he said.
The State defended its reports.
"Our stories accurately reflect the practices described to us by SCANA's corporate spokeswoman," the newspaper said in a statement. "A careful reading of Mr. Timmerman's letter does not change the facts of our stories."
While Timmerman said Scana employees have not been banned from patronizing any restaurant or business, "no one driving a company-owned vehicle should insist on dining in an establishment that displays flags or sells literature that other passengers in that vehicle may find offensive."