Column: There’s strength in flexibility

I love Palmetto trees.

They are kind of scruffy looking, tropical and they can be found in a variety of sizes. I haven’t found anything yet that has the Palmetto and crescent on it that I don’t like – license plates, flags, coasters, serving trays, wall art, T-shirts, hats – I love it all.

It’s a great thing that it is the official tree of my adoptive state of South Carolina.

But the story of how it became the official tree of our state is quite enthralling.

In 1776, South Carolina patriots realized that the port of Charleston was too valuable to lose to the British. It was one of only a handful of deepwater ports in the colonies, and losing it meant a point of entry for the British.

Short on time and materials, a fort was built on Sullivan’s Island on the north side of the mouth of Charleston harbor. The fort was built in six months and constructed from, you guessed it, Palmetto trees.

On June 28, 1776, the fort was not yet complete when it was attacked by nine heavily armed British war ships. The fort, yet to be named, was armed by a modest battery of cannon and manned by only 400 men led by William Moultrie. The battle lasted a day, but resulted in the improbable full retreat of the British fleet.

The Palmetto logs, in contrast to any other hardwood, were soft and fibrous. As the attack ensued, the wood flexed, and the cannonballs bounced off of the fort, rather than splintering and breaking, sending more dangerous shrapnel toward our patriots.

Strength in flexibility.

Soon after the battle, Commander Moultrie was hailed a hero, and the fort was named for him. The unsung hero of the battle, the Sabal Palmetto Tree, was made the official state tree on March 17, 1939.

We are the Palmetto State. We have been The Palmetto State since that sweltering summer day in 1776.

We are the embodiment of strength in flexibility.

Our state is under fire once again.

The vicious and soulless killings at Emanuel AME church in Charleston has the nation and the world looking at South Carolina under the microscope of media attention. The media is painting South Carolina as a center of racism, the breeding grounds of murderers and out of control gun nuts when that couldn’t be any farther from the truth.

This is a state of Southern, neighborly friendship. Most people in this country don’t know what that means. The response from the communities in Charleston after the shooting has helped to show the world who we are, but we need to do one important thing.

We need to put the Confederate flag in a museum where it belongs as part of our past and show our strength in flexibility.

I am fully aware of the culture attached to the flag. I am also fully aware that there are people in our community who likely had grandfathers and great-grandfathers who fought under that flag. They are proud of having taken a stance in what they believed was right, and what they believed was theirs.

But there comes a time in everyone’s lives where they have to admit that they were wrong.

I will admit, when it comes to race, I have done and said some things in my life that I am not proud of. I have told my share of off-color jokes. But my correction comes in the next generation.

My children have no idea what race is. When they try to describe their friends, they do not say “black,” “white” or “Asian.” They say they are the ones they “played with yesterday,” “the ones they ate lunch with” or the ones they “sit next to on the bus.” There is no difference and no separation.

I have made peace with my ignorance. I have learned to judge people on their actions and their behavior and not by the amount of pigment in their skin.

The Confederate flag is a symbol of a divided nation and, by its nature is anti-American. As long as it flies on the grounds of our state capitol, it will remain a symbol of a divided people. The capitol belongs to every resident in the state of South Carolina and every resident needs to be fairly represented.

I will not join the bandwagon of blaming inanimate objects for the acts of twisted and evil individuals. But the Confederate flag is a rallying symbol that has inspired hatred for generations.

Hatred and pride are inverse emotions – what is considered pride for some can be seen as hatred for others, and vice versa. The argument for keeping the flag as a symbol of Southern pride becomes null when it is invoked in the killing of nine good and innocent people while studying the Bible in a church on a Wednesday night. There is no place in this great state for such a symbol.

Strength in flexibility.

It is time to show the world what our state is made of.

This story was originally published June 29, 2015 at 10:32 AM with the headline "Column: There’s strength in flexibility."