Everyone there knew they were witnessing history. One morning in July, a South Carolina Highway Patrol honor guard marched up to a flagpole on the grounds of the State House in Columbia, the capital. Before a crowd of about 10,000 people, they ceremoniously lowered the battle flag of the Confederacy, folded it, and took it away.
It was a moment packed with emotion. Some in attendance chanted “U.S.A.!” in celebration. “I didn’t think I’d live to see this,” said James Johnson, who witnessed the event. For him, the flag represented slavery—the main cause of the Civil War (1861–1865)—and the oppression of blacks like himself in the South for more than a century after the war.
Others in the crowd weren’t so happy. Robert Hines, who is white, stood quietly holding small Confederate flags. “We had 22,000 South Carolinians die under the flag,” he told a reporter. For him and many others, the banner remains a symbol of pride and heritage.
The flag at the State House had been dividing South Carolinians since it was first flown there in 1961. Over the years, people made many attempts to have it removed, and demonstrators by the thousands marched for or against it. In 2000, lawmakers compromised by having the flag moved from the State House dome to a flagpole in front of the building. Opponents of the flag remained frustrated.
Then came Dylann Roof. On June 17, 2015, the 21-year-old white man opened fire at a service at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston,
South Carolina. Nine people were killed, all of them black. After Roof was arrested, authorities discovered his website. Along with racist rants against blacks, it showed Roof posing with symbols of the Confederacy, including the flag.
The shootings shocked the nation. Americans resumed debating an old question: Are symbols of the Confederacy, like the flag, and memorials to its heroes displays of Southern pride, or are they racist?
Many South Carolinians again called for taking down the State House flag—and Governor Nikki Haley agreed. “One hundred and fifty years after the end of the Civil War, the time has come,” she said.
While the State Senate debated the matter, senators mourned one of their own: Clementa Pinckney, who was also pastor of the church in Charleston and one of the dead. Despite resistance from some legislators, a majority agreed to remove the flag. A day later, it was gone. Yet the debate over the symbols of the Confederacy and where they fit in America today continues.
Everyone there knew they were witnessing history. One morning in July, a South Carolina Highway Patrol honor guard marched up to a flagpole on the grounds of the State House in Columbia, the capital. Before a crowd of about 10,000 people, they ceremoniously lowered the battle flag of the Confederacy. Then they folded it and took it away.
It was a moment packed with emotion. Some people chanted “U.S.A.!” in celebration. “I didn’t think I’d live to see this,” said James Johnson, who witnessed the event. For him, the flag represented slavery, the main cause of the Civil War (1861–1865). It also represented the oppression of blacks like himself in the South for more than a century after the war.
Others in the crowd weren’t so happy. Robert Hines, who is white, stood quietly holding small Confederate flags. “We had 22,000 South Carolinians die under the flag,” he told a reporter. For him and many others, the banner remains a symbol of pride and heritage.
The flag at the State House had been dividing South Carolinians since it was first flown there in 1961. Over the years, people tried many times to have it removed. Demonstrators by the thousands marched for or against it. In 2000, lawmakers compromised by having the flag moved from the State House dome to a flagpole in front of the building. Opponents of the flag remained frustrated.
Then came Dylann Roof. On June 17, 2015, the 21-year-old white man opened fire at a service at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Nine people were killed, all of them black. After Roof was arrested, authorities discovered his website. Along with racist rants against blacks, it showed Roof posing with symbols of the Confederacy, including the flag.
The shootings shocked the nation. Americans again debated an old question: Are symbols of the Confederacy displays of Southern pride, or are they racist?
Many South Carolinians again called for taking down the State House flag. Governor Nikki Haley agreed. “One hundred and fifty years after the end of the Civil War, the time has come,” she said.
While the State Senate debated the matter, senators mourned one of their own, Clementa Pinckney. He was also pastor of the church in Charleston and one of the dead. Despite resistance from some legislators, a majority agreed to remove the flag. A day later, it was gone. Yet the debate over the symbols of the Confederacy and where they fit in America today continues.