Late Saturday afternoon, the NAACP voted to end the organization's longtime boycott of South Carolina, just a day after the Confederate battle flag came down from the South Carolina Statehouse.
The civil rights organization said in a tweet that its National Board of Directors passed an 'Emergency Resolution' to end the boycott.
The text of the NAACP resolution:
WHEREAS, the Confederate Battle Flag is a symbol of racial, ethnic and religious hatred, oppression, and murder which offends untold millions of people; and
WHEREAS, on June 17, 2015, nine members of the Emmanuel AME Church including their Pastor were gunned down as they were studying their Bible in their House of Worship by an individual driven by a hatred which was fueled by the Confederate Battle Flag and all that it stands for; and
WHEREAS, In 1999, as a result of the insistence of the State of South Carolina to continue to fly the Confederate flag on the grounds of the state capitol, the NAACP called for a boycott of the state South Carolina; and
WHEREAS, in 2000 the NAACP reiterated its condemnation of the confederate battle flag and the confederate battle emblem being flown over, being displayed in or on any public site or space building, or any emblem, flag standard or as part of any public communication; and
WHEREAS, as a result of the NAACP boycott, the South Carolina State Conference of NAACP Branches, led by the courageous and tenacious leadership of President Dr. Lonnie Randolph was, at times, degraded but never defeated; and
WHEREAS, had the South Carolina State Conference of NAACP Branches chosen at any point to prematurely end the boycott, it would have easily given strength and support to those elements within society who wanted to perpetuate the hatred and history of oppression associated with the Confederate flag; and
WHEREAS, on Friday, July 10, 2015, the flag was removed permanently from the Capitol grounds as a result of actions taken by the South Carolina Senate, the south Carolina House of Representatives, and the South Carolina Governor; and
WHEREAS, while removal of the flag was clearly a victory for the NAACP and a defeat for promoters of hate, the NAACP clearly recognizes that there are still battles to be fought in other states and jurisdictions where emblems of hate and oppression continue to be celebrated; and
WHEREAS, removal of the confederate flag is not going to solve most of the severe tangible challenges facing our nation, including discrimination in our criminal justice system, economic system, employment, education, housing, health care, or other barriers to full and equal protection under law and full first-class citizenship, but it does symbolize an end to the reverence of and adherence to values that support racially-based chattel slavery and the hatred which has divided our country for too long.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NAACP ends its boycott of South Carolina.
