Tourists who visit the Gullah culture on the island are predominantly black and are staying away to honor the boycott. King-Comer said she understands why tourists have stopped coming, but the boycott is hurting black business owners. Her buses are parked more than she likes. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People enacted a boycott in January to pressure state lawmakers to remove the Confederate flag that has flown from the Statehouse dome since 1962. Flag opponents say it represents racism.
Supporters see it as a symbol of Southern heritage.
Legislators voted in May to remove the flag from the dome July 1 and fly it from a 30-foot pole near the Confederate memorial in front of the Statehouse. Of course, it's not just black business owners feeling the impact. Elayne Scott, owner of the Red Piano Too art gallery, says she's felt it, too. But Scott says she supports the boycott, despite the hardships she and her neighbors are facing. If it had meant the loss of our business to get that flag down, I would have been in support of the boycott,'' she said.