STRATFORD STUDENTS TO MARCH WITH NAACP

Planners Say Drug Raid At High School Typifies Inequality

Students who were searched during a drug raid at a Goose Creek high school
will help lead a State House rally for equal rights on Martin Luther King Day.

The state NAACP announced plans for its Jan. 19 King Day at the Dome march
and rally Monday.

The students - some of whom were restrained by police searching Stratford
High School with guns drawn - demonstrate lingering inequality for black
students, planners said. Police found no drugs during the search.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is also
continuing its protest of the Confederate battle flag's station on State
House grounds.

"We pledged to come back to the state house every King Day until the flag
was properly displayed," said James Gallman, state executive director, "and
we continue that promise."

The first King Day rally, held in 2000, drew nearly 50,000 people to
protest the Confederate battle flag flying over the state Capitol. The flag
was later removed from the building and placed on a monument on the State
House grounds.

Gallman said he wants the flag moved to a museum, where it would be
remembered properly as a piece of history.

While the flag is important as a symbol, organizers said they also wanted
to remove a lingering "Confederate mind-set" that they say has influenced
state policy.

"The battle for equitable school funding is still being fought," said the
Rev. Joseph Darby.

Other issues on the group's agenda included opposing imbalances in the
justice system, the state lottery and health care. The national South
Carolina tourism boycott also continues, Gallman said.

The NAACP is seeking faith groups to help plan events for King Day and is
holding a conference on Jan. 5. The rally will include a march from Zion
Baptist Church on Washington Street to the Capitol as well as choirs and
speakers.