Information about Georgia State Flag 

The S.C. NAACP has done its share of protesting.

But the civil rights group could be on the receiving end of the picket line this week when its delegates gather for their annual convention in Augusta.

“We’re thinking about it,” said Woody Highsmith of Evans, Ga., a member of the Military Order of the Stars and Bars, a group of descendants of Confederate Civil War officers. “Why are they in Augusta?”

To protest the flying of a Confederate flag at the State House, the S.C. NAACP has held its convention in states bordering South Carolina for the past three years.

But Highsmith and members of various Confederate heritage groups are incensed that the group will meet in Augusta.

They believe the S.C. NAACP manipulated Augusta Mayor Bob Young into removing a Confederate flag from a highly visible display at Riverwalk Augusta — one of the most popular tourist spots in the Garden City.

Highsmith said 200 to 300 demonstrators might assemble to protest the NAACP meeting Thursday through Sunday at the Radisson Riverfront Hotel, adjacent to the Riverwalk.

“The NAACP knew a year ago they were meeting at the Radisson, but they waited until now to force this issue,” Highsmith said.

Heritage group members said they plan Tuesday to go before the Augusta-Richmond County Commission to demand the Confederate flag be reinstated at Riverwalk.

“If they don’t,” Highsmith said, “we’ll sue.”

Young said he ordered the flag be removed at the request of Augusta NAACP president Charles Smith.

“The decision was made in consultation with representatives of the Augusta Commission, the Augusta business community and the Augusta hospitality industry, all of whom support the action that was taken,” the mayor said in a press statement.

Young declined further comment. The chairman of the Augusta Chamber of Commerce, Ed Presnell, declined an interview. The Augusta NAACP’s Smith could not be reached for comment.

PAST ENCOUNTERS

The Confederate flag, which had flown at Riverwalk for about 20 years, was replaced with an Augusta city flag.

Subsequently, the Web site of a pro-flag group, the Georgia Heritage Coalition, referred to Young as “Taliban Bob” — an intimation that Young, like the terrorist regime the U.S. deposed in Afghanistan, destroys public monuments.

Col. Gary Powell said the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office will place deputies near the hotel and Riverwalk during any demonstrations but will not overdo it.

The S.C. NAACP has maintained an economic boycott against South Carolina since 2000. That’s when the civil rights organization helped force the Legislature to remove Confederate flags from atop the State House and inside the House and Senate chambers.

In a compromise, however, a Confederate flag was raised on State House grounds, sparking the NAACP boycott aimed at disrupting the state’s largest industry — tourism.

Since the boycott, the state NAACP has held its annual conventions in Savannah and Charlotte.

Dwight James, executive director of the S.C. NAACP, said the issue of the Confederate flag at Augusta’s Riverwalk came up as his organization researched locations for its convention.

“We had discussions about it and inquired about who had authority to remove it,” he said. “We expressed some concerns to the Augusta branch ... and they took the initiative.”

RACISM OR HERITAGE?

Georgia and South Carolina have had long struggles over the Confederate flag.

The Stars and Bars flew over Georgia from the late 1800s until 1956. The Confederate naval jack replaced it in 1956 and flew until former Gov. Roy Barnes had it removed in 2001.

The Confederate flag flew over both states and other slave states in the South before the Civil War and afterward — during nearly a century of segregation under Jim Crow laws.

In that period, the flag became synonymous with hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, causing blacks in particular to take offense to the banner.

But flag supporters say it represents heritage, not slavery or hatred.

“We’d better learn to get along and stop the bigotry because our past is not going to change,” said Don Gordon of Lexington, a member of Sons of Confederate Veterans.

REMOVING THE FLAG

Augusta, Georgia’s second-largest metropolitan area, has long been mired in racial politics, wrecking the city economically, some say.

“Augusta has an opportunity to be a great Southern city,” said Eugene Hunt, a member of the Citizens Trust Initiative, created by the Augusta Chamber of Commerce to improve communication between blacks and whites.

But, Hunt said, turf wars ruin progress for the greater good.

“When we vote, it’s always along racial lines,” he said. “We can’t get anywhere if we’re not working together and trusting one another.”

Hunt said the Confederate flag is divisive; he applauded Young’s decision to remove it.

Frank Thomas, executive director of Augusta’s Human Relations Commission, said his city is not stirred up about the removal of the Confederate flag.

“It’s better not to have something that runs business away and does nothing to bring us together,” he reasoned. “I don’t think anybody really thought about it before.”

Reach Burris at (803) 771-8398 or rburris@thestate.com