WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Church group moves convention from SC over Confederate flag

Church group moves convention from SC over Confederate flag

By Susan-Elizabeth Littlefield - bio | email

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - A mostly black Christian denomination has voted to move its 2010 convention from South Carolina after the NAACP reminded them of the organization's tourism boycott of the state over the Confederate flag.

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) said Friday that its National Convocation agreed to the move after hearing a presentation from the state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The denomination has about 700,000 members, mainly in the midwest and central United States.

Imagine Columbia throught the eyes of a tourist. What would get your attention? Maybe the sweet tea, or maybe the sweet people.

"The people here are very nice," said one downtown visitor.

And what about that weather?

"Hot," said the visitor. "Famously hot. Is that really your tagline?"

It is, but there's something else that sticks out to some people.

When you walk down Columbia's Main Street, the Confederate flag is flying when you reach the State House. It's hard to miss, and that may affect the state's economy.

The NAACP has asked groups to boycott the state since legislators voted in 2000 to take the Confederate flag down from the State House dome and move it to a pole beside a monument to honor Confederate soldiers on the front lawn of the capitol.

"Any time you lose people here, it's a detriment to the economy," said Ric Luber, who runs the convention center downtown. It's his job to bring events to town, like the one that was cancelled.

"You always worry about it," said Luber. "It means we have to work all the much harder to find groups who are not boycotting that will come here."

And so do the people who work there. Gregory Harris, who works at Liberty Tap Room in the Vista, says convention-goers make up about 30 percent of his business.

"It would effect us dramatically," said Harris. "We need every sell we can get now, especially with the downturn in the economy."

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