Confederate flag lowered in South Carolina

“Why can’t we move to the 21st century?” Clementa Pinckney, perished in the shootings on June 17. Barton, 52, a pastor who also was at the ceremony in 2000.

The flag was then taken to the Relic Room where it was taken in by curator Alan Robinson.

Henkel says her flag is the American flag, and honoring her family does not make her or others racist. They handed it a third trooper. When the trooper handed it to a state archivist, the governor clapped.

Lewis spoke of his childhood in Mobile, Alabama during the days of Jim Crow and seeing signs saying “white” and “colored”.

The Confederate flag waved atop the state capitol from 1961 to 2000, when it was moved to a Confederate war memorial near the State House entrance.

Play video “Weeping Lawmaker Rages Against Flag”. It was moved in 2000 to the 30-foot flagpole in front of the Statehouse.

While the national debate continues, the debate over South Carolina’s flag has ended. Thousands of people gathered at the Statehouse, some chanting “take it down”.

The Confederate battle flag, flown by forces of the Southern states during the 1861-1865 Civil War, once again became a controversial symbol after the Charleston killings. They took it down – you know – we have to live with that. Their mostly agricultural economies relied on black slaves and for many, the flag which marked their secession has remained an icon of racism and enslavement. They are wearing white gloves.

The emblem, which features a star-filled blue cross set against a red background, was lowered from outside the legislature on Friday after a renewed fight by civil rights campaigners.

“But as I watched it, just um, a ton of emotions just washed over me. Today, at long last, this has been done”. “I think the Confederate flag doesn’t symbolize what it means to be united as one people”, said Tammy Stelnicki.

The Confederate flag has been removed from a flagpole on the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse, where it has had a presence for 54 years.

NAACP President Cornell William Brooks said the removal of the flag shows the commitment by the state to honoring those killed in Charleston the attack.

Supporters of the flag were disappointed, but resigned.

Now, the organizations that had imposed economic boycotts on South Carolina for flying the flag are reevaluating their stance on the state after its removal.

“It was a great example of people of faith using their faith to heal, rather than to divide”, he said, in applauding the people of South Carolina’s actions.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signs legislation permanently removing the Confederate battle flag from the state capitol grounds in Columbia, South Carolina, on July 9, 2015.

Haley said: “No one should ever drive by the Statehouse and feel pain”.

In recent weeks, the state’s House of Representatives and Senate overwhelming voted for the removal of the flag. The busy street that runs in front of the Statehouse is still open, but police plan to close it before the ceremony.

Authorities also banned the carrying of firearms in the vicinity of the statehouse.

NAACP president Cornell William Brooks said Thursday that the church massacre last month and the “brutality of this moment spoke to the country in ways that a boycott alone would not do”.