THE ROBERT W. WHITAKER ARCHIVE

WHY THE FLAG IS COMING DOWN | 2000-07-01

There are two general reasons that the Confederate flag comes down off the state house dome in Columbia on July 1, 2000: The first is the respectable conservative terror of being called a "racist" by liberals. The second is their respect for liberal opinion.

Polls showed blacks were not upset about the flag until liberals told the black "leadership," which they own outright, to act upset. The "leadership" told blacks to be upset, so they were. So conservatives sought a "compromise" with this legitimate liberal opinion -- and to avoid "racism."

People who are looking for great conspiracies or other obscure origins of our defeats don't see the simple reality that 1) and 2) above are at the basis of almost all our defeats.

Below I give more examples from the news where the exact same combination -- a scream of "racist" and a "compromise" with "legitimate" liberal opinion -- led to defeats for traditional values.