July 10, 2015

On Friday morning, July, 10, the Confederate battle flag (also known as the Flag of Dixie) was removed from the State House grounds in Columbia, South Carolina, where it had flown for more than half a century.

A crowd cheers as a South Carolina Highway Patrol honor guard lowers the Confederate battle flag from the State House grounds on July 10, 2015, in Columbia, South Carolina. Governor Nikki Haley presided over the event after signing the historic legislation the day before. Credit: © John Moore, Getty Images

The flag has long been a polarizing symbol in South Carolina, and many people demanded that it be taken down. In the years since the American Civil War (1861-1865), the flag had become a racist symbol of slavery to many African Americans and others. Later, in the early 1960′s, the flag became a symbol of opposition to the U.S. civil rights movement. However, many  Southerners have used the Confederate battle flag as an expression of Southern heritage and pride. Some believe the flag honors Confederate soldiers who fought in the Civil War.

The battle over the flag reignited last month after a white gunman allegedly killed nine African American worshippers at a historic black church in Charleston. Among the victims was the church’s pastor, South Carolina Senator Clementa Pinckney. Soon after the attack, photos surfaced of the suspect, Dylann Roof, 21, posing with the Confederate battle flag. Roof, who apparently considered the flag a symbol of white supremacy, confessed to the killings, saying he wanted to start a race war.

Early Thursday morning, the South Carolina House of Representatives voted 94-20 to take down the flag, giving final approval to a bill that passed the state senate earlier in the week. Republican South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley signed the bill into law Thursday afternoon. She used nine pens to sign the bill and said the pens would be given to the families of the nine victims of the Charleston church massacre. “It is a new day in South Carolina, a day we can all be proud of, a day that truly brings us all together as we continue to heal, as one people and one state,” Haley said. The legislation called for the flag to be taken down within 24 hours of Haley’s signing it into law and moved to the state’s Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum for display.

At around 10 a.m. Friday, crowds cheered and broke out into song as a South Carolina Highway Patrol honor guard slowly reeled the flag down and folded it. The flag was then handed to Department of Public Safety Director Leroy Smith, one of the state’s most prominent African American officials. Smith delivered the flag to the steps of the State House and handed it to a state archivist.

Other World Book articles:

• Flag
• Confederate States of America
• United States flag
• Human rights 1999 (a Back in Time article)
• State government 2000 (a Back in Time article)
• State government 2001 (a Back in Time article)

A white gunman was arrested Thursday morning after allegedly killing nine African Americans at a Bible study at a historic black church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday evening.

Witnesses said the gunman spent an hour at the Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church before opening fire, saying he was there “to shoot black people.” Six females and three males were killed. Eight died at the scene; the ninth died at a hospital. Among the victims was the church’s pastor, South Carolina Senator Clementa Pinckney. There were 13 people inside the church when the shooting occurred.

The suspect, Dylann Roof, 21, of Lexington, South Carolina, was arrested in Shelby, North Carolina, about 245 miles (395 kilometers) from Charleston. Roof was taken into custody without incident during a traffic stop. Local police acted on a be-on-the-lookout notice that included a vehicle description, the license tag, and the suspect’s name. Roof confessed to the killings, saying he wanted to start a race war.

“The only reason someone would walk into a church and shoot people that were praying is hate,” Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, choking back tears, said “the heart and soul of South Carolina was broken.… parents are having to explain to their kids how they can go to church and feel safe.” United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch, calling the shooting “barbaric,” announced that the U. S. Department of Justice had opened a hate-crime investigation into the shooting incident. President Barack Obama mourned the violence and the victims, saying, “Any death of this sort is a tragedy.…There is something particularly heartbreaking about death happening in a place in which we seek solace, we seek peace.”

Emanuel AME Church is the oldest AME church in the South. African American members of Charleston’s Methodist Episcopal Church formed their own congregation there in 1816. The church that stands at the site today was built in 1891. Known as “Mother Emanuel,” the church has been the headquarters for civil rights activity for decades.

Other World Book articles:

• 16th Street Baptist Church bombing
• Civil rights (1996 – a Back in Time article)
• Human rights (2001) – a Back in Time article)
• Human rights (2002 – a Back in Time article)
• United States, Government of the (1963 – a Back in Time article)