Summerville Rep. Jenny Horne reluctantly became a national figure Thursday morning, hours after her tearful, impassioned plea to pass the bill to remove the Confederate battle flag from Statehouse grounds.
A video of her nearly 4-minute, off-the-cuff speech on the House floor Wednesday went viral and Horne, 42, was called on to appear on national news shows, such as Today on NBC.
Its been a little overwhelming, the Dorchester County Republican said. Im just tired and not experienced in this. (The media) are pulling on you and this ones wanting an exclusive and Im like What? I dont even know what an exclusive is. Im totally ill-prepared for this. I just wanted to get the flag down.
After about 10 hours of debate on Wednesday, Horne felt like the House was losing sight of the issue. There were nearly 60 amendments offered, which would have stalled the bill indefinitely.
I was so frustrated, she said. We were getting nowhere and people were taking their time at the podium to talk about themselves, things that didnt have relevance at all to the issue at hand.
It was about 8 p.m. and all she had eaten all day was half a sandwich. She was tired and hungry.
I didnt plan to go to the well, but something struck me, she said. It was getting off course big time. The train was coming off the track, and I was trying to get it back on.
Horne, a Summerville lawyer, stepped to the podium, and started speaking calmly, but soon raised her voice and became emotional.
If you cannot be moved by the suffering of the people of Charleston, then you dont have a heart, Horne told her fellow House members. I would ask you all to dig deep and find the courage to do the right thing.
Through tears, she said anything less than removing the flag is an insult to the family of slain Lowcountry lawmaker Sen. Clementa Pinckney, the pastor of Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, who with eight parishioners was shot to death on June 17 during a Bible study at the church. Accused killer Dylann Roof, 21, posed waving the Confederate flag in photos posted on a website where a racist manifesto gave a rationale for the attack.
The people of Charleston deserve immediate and swift removal of that flag from this grounds, Horne said in her speech. I cannot believe that we do not have the heart in this body to do something meaningful such as take a symbol of hate off these grounds on Friday.
Horne, who was first elected to House District 94 in 2008, said she is a descendant of Confederate President Jefferson Davis a claim she said she never researched but was told to her by her grandfather, who was proud of the fact.
But that does not matter, she said in her speech. Its not about Jenny Horne. Its about the people of South Carolina who have demanded that this symbol of hate come off the Statehouse grounds.
At 1:11 a.m. Thursday, final approval came on a vote of 94-20. Gov. Nikki Haley signed the bill later that afternoon, and the flag is expected to be removed Friday.
No woman wants to cry, the mother of two said Thursday of her speech. I didnt want to cry, but I couldnt help it. The only thing I could see in my mind was Mrs. Pinckney and those two precious little girls at that funeral.
Hornes friends said her speech was typical of the person they know.
Most of our conversations are about mom stuff, said Adrian Grimes, a Summerville mother of three and former independent communications specialist for political campaigns. She first met Horne in Columbia a few years ago at the Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics.
Grimes older daughter, Erika, 19, works in Hornes law office, and her younger daughter, Morgan, baby-sits Hornes children.
Horne is as likely to be seen in the school carpool line as she is to be on the Statehouse floor, Grimes said.
Im so proud of her, but I am not surprised because thats who Jenny is, Grimes said. Ive said for a long time, that woman is going much beyond the South Carolina Statehouse. Shes a brave woman. This woman speaks her mind. Shes stood up to a lot of people because she has convictions.
Summerville lawyer Robby Robbins, who has been friends with Horne for two decades, said, That was the Jenny I know and love. She did what was right and she always does whats right. She doesnt see party lines. She doesnt see color. She sees issues. She will vote her conscience no matter what the issue is. She was speaking from the heart and thats what shes been brought up to do and shes not afraid to do it.
Rep. David Mack, a Democrat from Charleston, called Hornes remarks phenomenal.
I thought she captured what the whole debate was all about and it shows her compassion. It shows her feelings for people, said Mack, who also considers Horne a friend. It shows her integrity.
He said Hornes status as a white, Republican female made her remarks more powerful. And Mack said Horne so passionately laid out what we had a opportunity to do, to continue to heal the Charleston community and the state of South Carolina. ... She was a key element in getting that done.
State Rep. Jim Merrill, R-Charleston, said the Houses leadership had agreed to move beyond that amendment at issue when Horne spoke.
Merrill said Hornes remarks were a break from her normally even-keeled demeanor, but Wednesdays entire flag debate was a big break from the Houses normal way of doing things. Questions and comments and ideas arose from all sides on the floor, instead of being vetted during the committee process and other public hearings.
There was a degree of predestination that was involved in it thats not usually involved in legislation, Merrill said. You sort of knew the outcome beforehand.
Reach Brenda Rindge at 937-5713 or @brindge on Twitter.
Source: http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150709/PC16/150709417/1177/summerville-rep-horne-x2019-s-flag-discourse-lands-her-in-national-spotlight
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