South Carolina – Nikki Haley, Governor of South Carolina, has announced that she is in support of removing the confederate flag from the state’s capitol grounds following the recent shooting that occurred in Charleston, South Carolina.
“Today, we are here to say it is time to move the flag from the Capitol grounds,” Nikki Haley said as she was heckled by onlookers of her speech.
Haley has supported the existence of the flag on capitol grounds in the past however recent events has prompted her to change her mind and focus on what is best for South Carolina. Charleston’s Mayor, Joseph P. Riley also believes the flag should be removed as it is part of history and should no longer represent the modernization of South Carolina.
“The time has come for the Confederate battle flag to move from a public position in front of the state Capitol to a place of history,” Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley said at a televised news conference. The flag “was appropriated years and years ago as a symbol of hate,” Riley said, and should be moved to a museum.
Despite the Governor’s new position on the Confederate Flag, members of South Carolina’s House of Representatives believes the flag represents the culture of South Carolina and should not be removed because some people do not like to see it.
A petition has started within the House of Representatives for the state to secede from the United States if the confederate flag is removed. Those who defend the flag, including the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a social and political group in the South, insist the flag is a symbol of the state’s past and no longer carries the racist meaning.
According to Leland Summers, Commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, “There is absolutely no link between the Charleston massacre and the Confederate Memorial Banner. Don’t try to create one.”
The petition for South Carolina’s secession from the United States already has over 115,000 signatures since Haley’s announcement earlier today.
