Most Grand Strand businesses want to revisit the placement of the Confederate flag at the Statehouse that led a civil rights group to urge a tourism boycott of the state for more than a decade, according to a new survey.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People boycott because of the flag has driven several large sports tourism events away from the Grand Strand - including an ACC baseball tournament proposed for 2011-13 and 2012 Olympic trials for beach volleyball. Some businessmen say the cost has been too great and it's time to put the debate to rest.
The flag was moved from the Statehouse dome to a Confederate soldier memorial in front of the building in 2000 at the direction of the state legislature. The move did not go far enough for the NAACP, which wanted the flag removed from the grounds and began a boycott that encouraged tourists and other groups not to visit the state.
More than 65 percent of chamber members are in favor of revisiting the controversy, according to a Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce survey of 267 members. The remainder said they were opposed.
"It has cost our state and in particular our area. If it costs our area anything, it's too much," said Ryan Swaim, general manager of vacation rental company Dunes Realty. "It has not put us out of business, but it has cost us some, and the ACC tournament is an excellent example."
The survey also asked what should be done with the flag.
About 20 percent thought the flag should be removed from its place in front of the Statehouse and retired, and 45 percent thought it should be moved to the State Museum.
About 25 percent thought the flag should be left where it is, and 7 percent wanted it moved back to the Statehouse dome.
The state legislature is unlikely to debate moving the flag anytime soon, said S.C. Rep. Tracy Edge, R-Myrtle Beach. Lonnie Randolph Jr., president of the state branch of the NAACP, said the national NAACP would not support bringing the boycott to an end unless the legislature acts.
The Myrtle Beach area has lost more business than other areas and it's been more publicized because of the ACC tournament, said Brad Dean, president and chief executive of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
In Columbia, "right now, I don't think there's an appetite to revisit this," Dean said.
The chamber put the question on the survey because Edge had indicated that he would lead an effort to compromise on the flag next year, but Edge said Friday he does not plan to do so.
The chamber had not polled its members on the issue in years and wanted to be prepared to take a stance if need be, Dean said.
The Grand Strand businesses support revisiting the issue, but that doesn't mean the rest of the state does, Edge said.
"Here's the problem we've got: Those businesses are probably all along the coast and probably within 5 miles of the shoreline. You can drive five hours and 250 miles before you get to the end of the state, and 245 miles of that is more than likely strong flag supporters," he said.
An ACC tournament wasn't a big enough event to bring public pressure to make legislators consider moving the flag, Edge said.
"It would have to be something like the Super Bowl, which we're not going to be getting, but I think it would have to be something on that level to galvanize the legislature to do something," he said
Hotelier Frans Mustert said he thinks the stalemate will eventually resolve itself and the issue is best left alone for now.
Most African Americans continue to come to South Carolina in spite of the boycott, so the NAACP appears to be out of sync with its base, he said.
"They [the NAACP] are hurting themselves as much as they're hurting me ... and eventually they'll give up," Mustert said.
Mickey James, president of the Myrtle Beach branch of the NAACP, said the organization members he's talked to all agree with the boycott. James wrote a letter in support of the ACC tournament in 2009, but that doesn't mean he disagrees with the boycott, he said.
James said he was focused on creating jobs at the time and conflicted with the boycott by mistake.
"I believe there should be an end to this boycott in a positive way that everyone can function," James said. "The flag ought to be in the museum."
The issue has been "a thorn in the sides of a lot of people and it needs to be removed," said Peter MacIntyre, general manager of Ripley's Entertainment Myrtle Beach. MacIntyre said he is not personally upset with the flag, but he can understand how some people might be.
"When I see the Confederate flag, I don't see racism," MacIntyre said. "I don't see it, I don't feel it, I don't think it. But I was born in New York."
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