Secessionists accuse Clemson students of ‘cultural genocide’ over Confederate flag

COLUMBIA —  The S.C. Secessionist Party is charging Clemson University’s student government with “cultural genocide and historical revisionism” after it passed a resolution opposing display of the Confederate flag.

The party’s chairman challenged students to a debate over the issue, after the student Senate on Monday approved a resolution calling the Confederate flag “a symbol of hatred, racism, slavery, and white nationalism.”

“While we would hope that an institution of higher learning such as Clemson would have taught you that the War Between the States was far more nuanced than that, we consider that you are still children commenting on subjects of which you have no foundational understanding,” James Bessenger, the S.C. Secessionist Party’s chairman, said in a statement about the resolution.

Student senators approved the resolution after about a dozen people waved Confederate flags along a highway and a pedestrian bridge near the Clemson campus on Aug. 26.

The effort was part of a Secessionist-supported “flagging” campaign. Groups have organized displays of the flag around the state since a Confederate flag was removed from the State House grounds in 2015. The tiny party — which advocates South Carolina once again seceding — says the protests will continue until the Confederate Relic Room displays the flag removed from the State House.

The Relic Room has said it plans to display the flag in a simple frame after the Legislature declined to pay for a more elaborate display. Bessenger previously called that plan “half-assed.”

Bessenger said for students to lob accusations of racism toward “individuals you know nothing about is repugnant.”

“Your careless words get people hurt, therefore I urge you to think before you speak,” he said.

Despite setbacks for Confederate flag supporters in recent years, Bessenger said the flaggings will continue in Clemson and elsewhere until the State House flag is properly displayed and urged Clemson students to contact their legislators about the issue.

“Your generations (sic) most recent attempt at cultural genocide and historical revisionism isn’t the first, and it won’t be the last,” he said to the Clemson students. “The memory of the Confederate soldier ... and the reverence in which he is held will long outlive your current college-propaganda and hormone-fueled ire.”

In a statement on Wednesday, the Clemson student government said that while “Free speech is a cornerstone of (our) representation” and the student government “promotes the respectful sharing of ideals, opinions, persuasions and values,” the students don’t believe the parading of Confederate flags fits the bill.

“Any actions meant to target or intimidate are not welcome in this community,” the statement reads. “Diversity and inclusion isn’t something that can be addressed when the time is convenient, rather it’s a fundamental principle that must be recognized as we strive to make Clemson one of the best institutions for higher learning.”

Bessenger proposed to hold a debate at Clemson on the students’ “tragic lack of understanding of South Carolina’s Confederate history.”

“If your mission as the student body government is the furtherance of the education of the Clemson student body, we encourage you to accept this offer,” Bessenger said, adding he hoped to defend “millions of Southerners whose ancestors you have so cruelly maligned.”