If You Want Something Done by Nikki R. Haley

Author:Nikki R. Haley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

7

Over the spring and summer of 2020, I watched America burn. From Minneapolis to New York to Seattle to Portland to Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., rioters used the mantle of Black Lives Matter to destroy American cities, businesses, and lives.

It was heartbreaking knowing the wave of violence would do nothing to improve civil rights in America. Angry mobs and shattered cities are not what America is about.

The America I know and love is very different than the chaos, destruction, and anger that took place. The America I know allowed a brown girl with Indian parents to become the first female minority governor in the country. The America I know is marked by mistakes, yes, but also incredible, awe-inspiring progress. America is not perfect, but the principles of freedom and opportunity that gave birth to our country are perfect. Our American story is about constantly striving to live up to those principles and achieving amazing success in doing so.

When I delivered my first inaugural speech as governor of South Carolina in 2011, I quoted columnist George Will, who wrote about the occasion, “If the question is which state has changed most in the last half century, the answer might be California. But if the question is which state has changed most for the better, the answer might be South Carolina.”1

The history of the Confederate flag in South Carolina is an example of this. First raised over the state capitol dome in 1961, the flag was the source of much debate. Growing up, I knew people who viewed the flag as a matter of history and Southern heritage. I also knew people for whom the flag was a constant and painful reminder of slavery. In 2000, both sides reached a compromise to move the flag from the capitol dome to a monument honoring Confederate soldiers right in front of the statehouse.2

By the time I became governor ten years later, many people in our state had moved on. We were focused on bringing jobs to South Carolina and fixing our schools. That changed on Wednesday, June 17, 2015—a day I will never forget. An avowed white supremacist walked into a Bible study class at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (often called Mother Emanuel) in Charleston and murdered nine African Americans during Bible study, including the pastor, over the course of six minutes.

The pain and tragedy of the Mother Emanuel shooting brought the flag to the forefront. It begged the question of why we still had the Confederate flag flying on the statehouse grounds.

In the wake of this gruesome tragedy, South Carolina came together. We didn’t have riots. We held vigils. We didn’t have protests. We had hugs. Instead of hatred, we offered comfort. This tragedy called for prayer and healing, and the people of South Carolina rose to the moment. There was a place for the Confederate flag, but that was not at the statehouse but a museum. So, that’s what we did. The bill to remove the flag from the

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.