Confederate flag-flying is 'constitutional right,' says Piggie Park owner

By The Associated Press

08.28.00

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Maurice Bessinger outside his Lexington, S.C., barbecue restaurant on Aug. 24.

LEXINGTON, S.C. — Barbecue baron Maurice Bessinger wants an apology from city officials who say he must buy a $20 permit to fly the Confederate flag outside his restaurant here.

"No, I will not buy a permit to exercise my constitutional right," Bessinger said last week. "The Confederate flag is a political symbol and it's unconstitutional to try to regulate a political symbol."

Bessinger wanted to keep the Confederate flag atop the Statehouse, but he and other flag supporters lost that battle when the flag came down July 1.

So he removed the U.S. flag from all nine of his Bessinger's Piggie Park restaurants in the Columbia area and raised the South Carolina and Confederate flags instead.

Then Lexington officials said the town's zoning ordinance prohibited all banners — except for the U.S., state or municipal flags — without a permit and Bessinger could be fined as much as $500 a day.

For $20 a year, business owners can buy a permit allowing them to fly any banner they want for a total of 60 days, Mayor Dan Breazeale said.

Taking Old Glory down was a political statement, said Bessinger, who has made his fortune by capitalizing on the area's unique mustard-based barbecue and his reputation by fervently supporting conservative causes.

A Columbia law firm took Bessinger and his restaurant to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976 to open the restaurant to black patrons.

Bessinger proudly displays his Korean War service medals and a huge copy of the Confederate national seal at his West Columbia restaurant. There's an autographed picture of Republican President Ronald Reagan — right next to a signed photo of longtime segregationist and former Alabama Gov. George Wallace.

Bessinger ran for South Carolina governor as a Democrat in 1974. He finished fifth out of seven.

"The states have the power and not the federal government," he said. "Somebody's got to stand up and do something to emphasize our sovereignty, and that's why I'm taking this stand."

The Confederate flag is a companion to the South Carolina flag "because it represents our heritage," Bessinger said.

"I'm not interested in hiring any lawyer. I'm going to stand on my constitutional rights," he said. "If they don't back off and apologize, it's a different story."

The town of Lexington issued Bessinger a second $500 ticket on Aug. 24 and will cite him every day the flag flies without a permit, Town Administrator L.C. Greene said.

"It has nothing to do with the flag in any form or fashion," Greene said. "We have an ordinance on the books."

Chris Sullivan, executive director of the Southern Heritage Association, said he feared this would be the result when legislators, under pressure from a boycott of the state by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, agreed to move the flag from the Statehouse dome to a nearby monument.

"It's what we said all along: that they would attempt to get rid of all Confederate flags from all public display," Sullivan said.

Neill Payne, executive director of the Southern Legal Resource Center in Black Mountain, N.C., called Lexington's action "an outrageous attack."

"Ever since the flag came off the dome, it has been an open season for all things Confederate," Payne said.

Laverne Neal, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Columbia, said the town had a right to a sign ordinance and did not violate Bessinger's right to free speech.

"It would be different if, once he got the permit, they would say what he could and couldn't fly," Neal said. "Then that's something that we might get involved in."

Bessinger, who is the first to challenge the ordinance, must appear in Lexington Municipal Court within two weeks, Greene said.

Update

Confederate flag flies permit-free over Piggie Park restaurant
Lexington, S.C., council votes to allow additional flags at businesses.  08.29.00