Charleston County Council split on the issue of whether to approve funding for the Medal of Honor Bowl after comments from a councilman who pointed out that The Citadel has a Confederate flag at Summerall Chapel.

The request for $25,000 in county funds died Tuesday when Council voted 4-4. Minutes earlier, meeting as the Finance Committee, the same council members voted 5-3 to approve the request for funds.

Council Chairman Teddie Pryor said Wednesday that the Confederate flag that hangs in Summerall Chapel was not the reason for a negative vote by him and council members Colleen Condon, Henry Darby and Anna Johnson.

The vote had nothing to do with race. This was not a vote against the Medal of Honor. This was not a vote against The Citadel, Pryor said.

However, after the Finance Committee vote, Darby spoke passionately about the presence of the flag and the history associated with the Citadel stadium where the game will be played. It is named for Confederate Brigadier General Johnson Hagood, whom Darby said refused to send home for burial the body of Robert Shaw, commander of the all-black 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. Darby noted that many African-Americans will play in the Medal of Honor Bowl.

Shaw, who was white, was killed in a battle near Charleston. It was customary to return the bodies of fallen officers, Darby noted, but Hagood said that Shaw would remain interred with the fallen blacks he commanded.

We buried him with his (n-word) Darby said.

For Pryor, a decision on the bowl funding request was about the budget process and the fact that the bowl request was out of cycle, meaning that it could not be considered until February along with other organizations seeking extra funds, he said.

It would be unfair, Pryor said, for the Council to bump the Medal of Honor Bowl to the head of a list in December that includes other worthy organizations waiting their turn until February to seek more funds.

He noted that the Council appropriated $50,000 last year for the first Medal of Honor Bowl which was played at Johnson Hagood Stadium. The Council reduced its appropriation this year to $9,100 after reviewing attendance at the game and its economic impact.

We have been more than generous, Pryor said.

Bowl Committee Chairman Tom McQueeney said Wednesday he was surprised that the first vote for approval of his funding request was reversed a short while later even though the same council members considered it both times.

I made the assumption that wouldn t change, he said.

McQueeney said the bowl organizers will take the county decision in stride and forge ahead with the $1.3 million event.

We re apolitical. We re just trying to put on a football game. To do that, we need everybody s help, he said.

McQueeney on Tuesday asked Council for $25,000 to help pay for televising the game on Jan. 10. Broadcasting the event on NBC Sports Network will cost at least $80,000. The game has a hybrid contract that combines sale of advertising and cash payment to the network.

When you are unproven as we are, then you pay them, McQueeney told the Council. He said the all-star game, which has a $1 million budget, was fortunate to get the TV contract. When the game grows in popularity, then the network will pay for rights to broadcast it, he said.

Last year s game, which drew about 5,000 fans, was played in stormy weather that included the threat of a tornado, he said.

The stadium has 21,000 seats.

Pryor said the organizers could borrow the extra $25,000 and then come back in February to ask for the money from the county, but there is no guarantee they will get the funds.

At the Council meeting Tuesday, Darby also said the Confederate Naval Jack hanging in Summerall Chapel is a total affront to African-Americans. Later, after a recess, Darby said that he has no ill ill toward those who wish to own, wear or display a Confederate flag.

I would protest with the worst Klansman for any individual to have that right. The problem that I have is when it comes to public institutions and government, he said.

Johnson, as a Finance Committee member, voted Tuesday in favor of appropriating the $25,000 for the bowl game. Shortly afterwards at the full Council meeting, Johnson changed her vote to no, which meant the measure died.

I certainly don t want to be on the wrong side of history, Johnson said after the vote.

While Mr. Darby certainly feels strongly about the flag, this is an opportunity for us to try to rethink some of the things that we do in our country. I m thinking also in terms of what is going on in Missouri and New York and some of the other cities and states in these United States, she said.

I don t want this to be something that is going to divide us. And certainly I wouldn t want it to be a negative message that is sent, so I hope that the Medal of Honor Bowl is successful with the $9,000 that we have already allocated for this, she said.

After the 4-4 vote, Councilman Joe Qualey asked that the question of whether to appropriate $25,000 for the bowl game be tabled because Council member Elliott Summey was absent. Legal counsel advised that was not an option. It dies so you can t do that, Pryor said.

Qualey then asked that the issue be sent back to committee, a motion that failed by a 4-4 vote.

Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711.