Flag 'compromise' moving swiftly

By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@TheCitizenNews.com

A Senate vote on a new Georgia state flag could come as early as today, some observers predict.

But Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, R-Newnan, predicted the issue would come to a vote Tuesday. He said he had received 150 e-mails since news of a compromise on the flag broke Wednesday afternoon.

"House members didn't have time to check with their constituents," Seabaugh said, admitting with a laugh that he had plenty of e-mails to read before deciding how to vote.

The proposed new flag, billed as a compromise between black leaders who want to remove the Confederate battle emblem from Georgia's flag altogether and history buffs who want it to remain, was approved swiftly by the House Wednesday, after being introduced only hours earlier by Gov. Roy Barnes. The text of Barnes' comments is on today's front page.

In the Fayette delegation, Republican Rep. Kathy Cox of Peachtree City voted in favor of the change, while Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Sharpsburg, the House Republican leader, voted against. "I was terribly shocked and surprised," said Westmoreland following the vote. "I'm anxious to see how the public responds."

Westmoreland also wondered about claims that the proposed flag represents a compromise, saying no one approached him about it. "This was done in the middle of the night," he said. "I don't know who the parties were that were consulted on it."

The proposed flag is essentially the state's original flag the state seal against a blue field with the addition of miniature versions of all of the state flags through history across the bottom, which means that the Confederate battle emblem will remain on the flag in a much less prominent way than before.

Black groups that were pushing for removal of the emblem have hailed the proposal as an acceptable compromise, though they have made no secret that the long-term goal is removal of the emblem altogether.

That worries Scott Gilbert Jr., commander of Fayette County's LaFayette McLaws Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. "Their next move will be to try and take the little flags off," he said, adding that he fears opponents will then seek to have the Confederate emblem removed even from historic sites.

"There's nothing in the past few years of these so-called controversies to indicate otherwise," he said.

The rapid movement on the flag issue has caught many observers off guard, including Gilbert. "I'm shocked, and extremely upset," he said Thursday as debate continued.

He said the chapter expects to have a formal statement by Monday. Meanwhile, he has talked to several members, "and we're not happy about it."

Sen. Greg Hecht, who represents north Fayette, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

John Munford and John Thompson contributed to this report.

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