Haley changes stance as criticism grows over Charleston murders.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has called for the Confederate flag to be removed from the state capitol in the wake of the racially charged murder of 9 people in a historically black Charleston church, but defended the right of private citizens to fly it.
Many respect the flag as a reminder of ancestors who died in the Civil War, noting that such feelings do not represent “hate nor is it racism. At the same time, for many others in South Carolina, the flag is a deeply offensive symbol of a brutally oppressive past,” she said, according to ABC News.
The Republican governor — who dodged and ducked calls to remove the flag in the first few days following the shooting of nine black members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17 — said taking the flag down would unite the state.
According to The Associated Press, the flag has flown in front of the state capitol for the past 15 years, and it was flown atop the statehouse dome since 1962.
“We are not going to allow this symbol to divide us any longer,” she said, as reported by Fox News. “The fact that people are choosing to use it a sign of hate is something that we cannot stand. The fact that it causes pain to so many is enough to move it from the capitol grounds. It is after all a capitol that belongs to all of us,” she continued.
Momentum has grown since last Wednesday’s murders to take down the flag. The killer, Dylann Roof, was photographed holding the flag and along with other symbols of perceived white supremacy. Over the weekend, nearly 2,000 protesters braved triple-digit heat to call for the flag’s removal in the state capital of Columbia.
State law dictates that two-thirds of the South Carolina general assembly will have to call for the flag’s removal, and prior to that they will have to have two-thirds of the assembly vote to extend their session, according to state Sen. Marlon Kimpson, who spoke at Haley press conference earlier.
The state capitol’s American flag was lowered to half-staff after of the shootings, but the Confederate flag also flown there remained at full-staff because only the state’s general assembly is allowed to order it down, reported Good Morning America.