Jay Newman, the pastor of St Mary Catholic Church in Greenville, SC, is asking parishioners who voted for Barack Obama to not present themselves for Communion until they've gone to confession and asked for forgiveness for cooperating with "intrinsic evil," "lest they eat and drink their own condemnation."

CONTINUED »

South Carolina's dogged persistence in holding onto the Confederate Flag has long been a point of contention and a pet cause of the NAACP. At the organization's convention last week, leaders announced plans to launch a renewed effort to get South Carolina officials, who moved the flag from its perch atop the state house to a memorial for Confederate soldiers in 2000, to remove the flag entirely.

Cord Jefferson (who is undergoing kidney transplant surgery as we speak — wish him luck!), asked readers last week if the flag is about heritage or hate — I say that heritage and hate aren't necessarily mutually exclusive in this particular case. The Confederate Flag is a symbol of the South's history, of which virulent racism and violence are part and parcel. The people who insist on waving it proudly are exhibiting, at best, an unabashed insensitivity to the painful memories and history that the flag represents for so many people, and, at worst, the ugly racism handed down to Southerners from their forefathers. There are a lot of people who disagree with me on this in South Carolina. Then again, there are a lot of people who agree with me. Incidentally, none of them seem to care too much about the NAACP's latest anti-flag efforts. Why?

CONTINUED »

NAACP leaders meeting in Cincinnati say they're going to ramp up their campaign against flying the Confederate flag in South Carolina. In 2000, a compromise between state parties for and against the flag in saw it removed from the Capitol dome and instead flown on the Statehouse grounds near the Confederate Soldier Monument.

The fact that everyone in the country isn't against the flying of a symbol that was once devoted to the decimation of the United States has always confused me. Not being from the region, I don't really understand the bond some Southerners – like Georgian Andre 3000 there – feel with the flag. Is there anyone out there who thinks the banner is a symbol of heritage – not hate – and wants to explain their beliefs?

ON DRIVING WHILE BLACK Six black motorists are receiving a $300,000 settlement from the state of Maryland after accusing state troopers of racial profiling. The state is ponying up another $100,000 to hire a consultant to examine racial profiling in the state. Umm, pay me the $100,000. I can tell you right now. You do it. A lot. But maybe not as badly as they do in South Carolina, where a newspaper report found that state troopers there, in addition to over-tasering blacks and hitting them with their squad cars, disproportionately stop and warn black drivers. South Carolina cops have some major race issues, but it's not like this doesn't happen everywhere.

I'm starting to feel bad for cops in South Carolina who aren't racist or inept or both. Because there are a few in their ranks who are giving the entire outfit a really bad name. I mean, purposely hitting suspects with your squad cars and then bragging about it on camera? And newly released stats showed that patrol officers in the state had used tasers during traffic stops 17 times, and 11 of those 17 people were black. State lawmakers, black ones, of course, say that even if the tasers were used properly, it demonstrates a pattern of abuse, particularly given SC cops' pattern of not doing so well with race relations. Drive the speed limit in South Carolina, dear readers. Always. [WSPA]

South Carolina law enforcement has problems. Two of the top law enforcement officials in the state just resigned over allegations that the department was not handling allegations of racism properly, and a report recently came out that said black state troopers were underrepresented on the force compared to the state's population. And now they're running over people with their police cars! On purpose! And it's being caught on video tape! Plus, the cops are receiving punishments like "mandatory stress management classes!" Remind me never to commit a crime in South Carolina. [MSNBC]

• Since we all live in a country where there have only been three black senators since Reconstruction and just two black elected governors, many of us know that Ferraro's affirmative-action-in-politics rhetoric is idiotic. But some people are more pissed than others. In other news, she has resigned and Clinton rejects (no denunciation, yet) her comments. [WP, Politico]

• Where not to stay if you're doing the hostel thing in Australia. [TA]

• Meet Jackie Ormes, the first black female cartoonist. She was pretty. That's obviously beside the point. [AH]

• Bow Wow is 21, and I am very old. [BS]

• South Carolina needs to get it together. [TS]

• Here's some footage from the opening night of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

• Black farmers work to keep their land in SC. [USAT]

• Barack Obama answers Hillary Clinton's suggestion that he'd make a great VP: "I’m not running for vice president. I’m running for president of the United States of America." [TC]

• Ghanaian soccer star Freddy Adu is 18 and ready for the Olympics. [NYT]

• "FOR THE THOUSANDTH TIME: BLACKS ALREADY TURN OUT AT HIGH RATES AND VOTE OVERWHELMINGLY DEMOCRATIC IN THE SOUTH." [TAP]

David Kennedy, a black minister in Laurens, South Carolina, is attempting to close the apparently "world's famous" Redneck Shop, a classy little 12-year-old boutique that sells, among other things, KKK robes and racist literature. Kennedy owns the building in which the shop operates and wants it gone, but the original lease granted to the shop's manager, John Howard, says the business can stay put until the former Klansman dies.

Even though much of the town has shunned Howard and his sad, bitter store – the windows have been smashed out more than once – Kennedy says he'd like to take the matter to court and force the Redneck and the redneck to vacate the building.

"If anything turns people off, they shouldn't come in here. It's not a thing in here that's against the law," Howard said…

To blacks, Kennedy said, the store is a reminder of this region's painful past, which includes the lynching of his great, great uncle by a white mob.

Once Kennedy's done with this legal battle, we recommend he continue to pursue and sue glaring reminders of historic black suffering, including most current rap music, most current rap videos, Wayans brother films, the criminal justice system, thousands of "Comments" sections on the Internet, New Orleans, Bob Jones University MTV and BET. Good luck, Dave.

• Sad story: Juvenile's four-year-old daughter, along with her half-sister and police-officer mother, were murdered in their Georgia home. The mother's 17-year-old son has been arrested for the crime. [AHN]

• A woman and a black man are now at the top of American politics, but women and blacks are still struggling to get to the top of business world and stay there. [MST]

• Apparently, Barack Obama doesn't have the true African-American vote on lock. [HC]

• Two of South Carolina's top law enforcement officials just resigned over criticism that they did not deal with racism within the department. [WSITV]

A daily Black History Month fact that has nothing to do with George Washington Carver, MLK, Jr., or Harriet Tubman. Promise!
Here's one South Carolinian who would no doubt be thrilled that in 2008, the people in his state have yet to relinquish the Confederate flag. Robert Smalls was born a slave in 1839, and as an adult, who worked on a Confederate steamer based out of the Charleston Harbor called the Planter. Once the war started, Smalls hatched a plan to take over the Steamer with a group of 12 other slaves. On the morning of May 13, 1862, Smalls smuggled his wife and children aboard the ship and took command with the rest of his crew. They waved the Confederate Flag until they reached the Union waters, where they turned the ship over as contraband. Smalls and his crew were honored by Lincoln. The former slave became became a captain in the U.S. Navy, and officially commanded the Planter throughout the Civil War.

During Reconstruction, Smalls returned to South Carolina and served in the state senate from 1868-1870. In 1875 he was election to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served for five terms and fought for equal travel accommodations for blacks and for the rights of children of mixed race.

He died in 1916.

This concludes your daily does of BHM.

*Feel free to send me your black history month suggestions at lauren AT stereohyped.com. Thanks!

• Ne-Yo, who is currently suing R. Kelly over their tour-gone-wrong, is now rumored to be suing Beyonce over royalties for her song "Irreplaceable," which he wrote. [SOHH]

• South Carolina and its much-talked about statehouse grounds… All you can do is shake your head. [CT]

• Australia starts 'em young. [MHS]

• An annual African American art exhibit in Louisville shows shifting perceptions of black art and artists. [LCJ]

Barack Obama wins South Carolina! Oh, we all already knew that would happen. But we didn't know he would trounce the competition with 55 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton got 27 percent, and John Edwards rounded out the bottom with 18 percent.

The Clintons sought to downplay their opponent's victory as they moved on to campaign in Tennessee. I've largely ignored and/or minimized the racial controversy surrounding the Clintons because — although I think they definitely need to watch their language — I never honestly felt that they were trying to use race to minimize Obama. But this comment from Bill Clinton really disappointed me:

"Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88," Clinton said at a rally in Columbia. "Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here."

Those black South Carolinians are willing to vote for any old (or young) black guy, aren't they? Thanks for helping us draw the connection, Mr. President.

Check out part two of Obama's victory speech after the jump.

CONTINUED »

CNN is getting flack for a story yesterday that begged this question of black women in South Carolina: "Will You Vote For Your Race Or Your Gender?" Of course they went to a hair salon — where else does one find black women??? — for their answers.

It really shouldn't have taken a barrage of emails for CNN to realize that it was a pretty ridiculous question that minimized black womens' political choices. Did they consider the possibility that — although I'm sure many women and men of all races are taking gender and skin color into consideration in this race — they are voting primarily on issues, not gender and race? And what about the ones who choose John Edwards? Are they self-haters? If white men are allowed to pick their Democratic candidate of choice in peace without being either encouraged to or accused of making their decision based on race or gender, then women and blacks should be able to do the same. I'll be happy when the South Carolina primary is over and everyone — from the candidates to the media — stops treating black voters in South Carolina like some fascinating, unpredictable sideshow attraction.