South Carolina has long prided itself on its race relations. There was less resistance to the Civil Rights movement in the state in comparison to the protests and riots that took place in states like Alabama and Mississippi, where governors stood in schoolhouse doors and civil rights workers were killed by police. But in recent years, a string of incidents -- black church burnings and the infamous Redneck Shop in Manning, and now the Confederate flag rhetoric -- have clouded the state's race record, reconnecting modern day South Carolina to an Old South that most South Carolinians want nothing to do with.

Ironically, it's the most adamant supporters of the flag who seem to be doing the most to get it taken down, who in their fervor to preserve Old Dixie have fueled the maelstrom of negative publicity the state has garnered in the national media. A turning point came a week ago, when a crowd at the Republican debate raucously booed MSNBC anchor Brian Williams for asking George W. Bush if the flag offended him. The crowd had the look of a lynch mob; and Williams actually looked a little rattled. The next day, state Sen. Arthur Ravenel raged against the "National Association of Retarded People." Every such outburst only serves to strengthen the resolve of the moderates to salvage South Carolina's reputation by removing the flag.

The question now seems to be whether middle-of-the-road flag supporters can find a way to bring down the flag while still saving face. Jack Bass, professor at the College of Charleston, believes the NAACP is very deliberately not stepping up the boycott, as they had threatened, to give key Republicans room to breathe.

"A clear signal of a developing consensus is that the NAACP did not escalate the boycott," Bass says. "What that signals is an implicit understanding to give Republican moderates in the legislature a chance to work themselves into a politically acceptable escape."

But in the end, the flag will come down. And life in South Carolina will go on. As David Woodard puts it: "It isn't like you're trying to redo the tax code. All you've got to do is take down a flag."

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