In South Carolina, the governor has called for the Confederate flag to stop flying over the capitol. The governors of Virginia and North Carolina quickly declared that they would remove the flag from state license plates. Meanwhile, several of the country's top retailers -- including eBay and Amazon -- announced in quick succession that they would stop selling Confederate flag merchandise. Now MJ Lee reports at CNN that the debate over the Confederate flag is the most recent and vivid illustration of how changes in the business community can influence and pressure politics. "What you are seeing is a broad, acknowledgment across both the consumer, the political and the business community that that particular emblem is no longer part of something that should be a state-issued emblem," says GOP strategist Scott Jennings.
Walmart, Amazon, eBay and Sears announced within the span of one day that they would ban the sale of Confederate flag merchandise from their stores, saying they had no intention of offending customers. As Walmart CEO Doug McMillon put it, the decision was straightforward: "We want everybody to feel comfortable shopping at Walmart." Corporate and business leaders say that the abandoning the flag is a step towards inclusiveness for a region that has long struggled to shed negative images. "The business community -- they have a lot of say and power all over the country, whether it's on religion or ethnicity or LGBT issues," says Ralph Northam. "When you're running a business, you have to have the doors open and welcome diversity."
takyon: Alabama Governor Orders Removal Of Confederate Flags From Capitol
'Dukes of Hazzard' toy car General Lee loses its Confederate flag
Note: These moves are in response to the events in Charleston.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 24 2015, @11:52PM
And you're just ignoring the fact that the Confederate States existed for political and economic reasons that had nothing to do with your precious little obsession with slavery.
You are delusional. Slavery was front and center the primary issue, for example from Mississippi's declaration of secession: [civilwar.org] "Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery-- the greatest material interest of the world. " All of the states had simi
From Georgia's portion: The prohibition of slavery in the Territories is the cardinal principle of this organization.
You really can't read the declaration and come away with any other conclusion.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Thursday June 25 2015, @08:54AM
[1] Slavery had previously been made illegal in Britain via a backdoor, where a judge ruled that since slavery had never explicitly been made legal (and constitutional law in the UK says that you have all freedoms that are not explicitly removed by statute law) then there were no slaves in Britain and anyone who arrived in Britain as a slave ceased to be so as soon as they entered British jurisdiction. Which made it slightly problematic for the slave traders based in Bristol...
sudo mod me up
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 25 2015, @12:23PM
> The debate is over the degree to which the north was opposed.
Yeah, we are debating whether or not the north were hypocrites! That is what's going on - a great big tu quoque.