Page 7 - KPA - JULI 11,2015
P. 7
U.S. NEWS A3
Saturday 11 July 2015
After 54 years;
Confederate Flag Taken Down in South Carolina
JEFFREY COLLINS carefully folded and rolled reversed their positions as ored and defamed,” Le- or guard carried state Sen.
MEG KINNARD it up. The flag was then tak- well, and Thursday’s final land Summers said. Clementa Pinckney’s coffin
Associated Press en to the state’s Confeder- votes in South Carolina’s But if South Carolina into the Statehouse for a
COLUMBIA, South Caro- ate Relic Room to be put Republican-led legislature couldn’t make a last stand viewing last month.
lina (AP) — South Carolina
pulled the Confederate An honor guard member from the South Carolina Highway Patrol hands the Confederate battle Pinckney also led the
flag from its place of honor flag that flew in front of the Statehouse to the curator of the Confederate Relic Room and Military Emanuel African Meth-
at the Statehouse on Fri- Museum after it was taken down Friday, July 10, 2015, in Columbia, S.C. odist Episcopal Church in
day, marking a milestone in Charleston, where he and
how America commemo- (AP Photo/John Bazemore) eight others were gunned
rates the war that tore the down during their Bible
United States apart 150 in a new multimillion-dollar were overwhelmingly in fa- for the Lost Cause, where study.
years ago. display. Later Friday, the vor of removal. else might it happen? From Police arrested a white
Many people believed 30-foot (9.14-meter) pole it As the flag came down, Alabama to Alaska, Con- gunman who had posed
the rebel banner would flew on was yanked out af- Haley joined family mem- federate and segregation- with Confederate flags,
fly forever in the first state ter several mighty tugs from bers of the victims and oth- ist monuments, statues, and called it a hate crime.
to leave the Union, de- a crane. er dignitaries on the steps of symbols and place names Family members of the slain
spite bitter feelings that re- Overseeing it all was an im- the Statehouse, and while are being re-examined. churchgoers were given
mained after the flag was posing statue of Benjamin she didn’t speak, she nod- “They aren’t going to be prime spots to watch the
demoted from atop the Tillman, the South Caro- ded and smiled after some- happy until Mississippi is just flag’s removal, joined by
Capitol dome to a Confed- lina governor who went to one in the crowd shouted: like Michigan,” said Nelson a crowd of between 8,000
erate monument out front Washington as a U.S. sena- “Thank you governor.” Waller, who joined several and 10,000 people, ac-
15 years ago. tor and proudly described President Barack Obama dozen flag supporters in a cording to Sherri Iacobelli
But the killings of nine black how he undermined post- tweeted minutes later, call- rally at the Statehouse ear- of the state Department of
church members during Civil War Reconstruction ing it “a sign of good will lier this week, but said he Public Safety.
a Bible study in Charles- by killing black people who and healing and a mean- was too heartbroken to see Denise Quarles, who lost
ton last month suddenly tried to vote in the 1800s. ingful step towards a better it taken down. her mother, Myra Thomp-
changed the political truths Gov. Nikki Haley, who has future.” Two white troopers neatly son, said “the Emanuel 9”
and consequences sur- national ambitions of her The leader of the South tied the rolled-up flag with were surely smiling down
rounding Civil War symbols. own, felt compelled by Carolina chapter of the a white ribbon, then hand- from heaven.
The battle flag unfurled last month’s killings to call Sons of Confederate Vet- ed it to a black trooper “The tragedy was a trag-
to assert white power for bringing down the flag, erans refused to attend, who marched it away. But edy. But now on the other
and protest the civil rights only months after calling instead recalling his seven Highway Patrol Cpl. Rupert side of that tragedy, we
protest in the 1960s had her Democratic oppo- ancestors who fought for Pope downplayed the sig- see a lot of positives com-
been defended by white nent’s demand to do the the South in the Civil War. nificance of their race. ing out. Maybe people will
Republican leaders until same thing a “stunt.” Other “I’m not going down there “We’re all gray,” Pope said. change their hearts,” Quar-
last month as a symbol of leading Republicans swiftly to watch them be dishon- The same seven-man hon- les said.
Southern pride. After the Lawmakers in other states
church attack, even sup- are targeting other sym-
porters felt compelled to bols. The Mississippi flag in-
acknowledge that the flag cludes the rebel battle flag,
also represents racial ha- and Georgia’s incorpo-
tred. rates another Confederate
“No lie can live forever. design.
That flag is a lie,” South Thousands of Southern-
Carolina NAACP President ers drive cars with license
Lonnie Randolph said. plates featuring the rebel
The flag came down Fri- banner, which was quickly
day without incident, in a banished from Alabama’s
6-minute ceremony, amid capitol and federal cem-
a crowd of up to 10,000 eteries since the shootings.
people chanting “USA, In Memphis, Tennessee, offi-
USA,” and “hey, hey, hey, cials are working to remove
goodbye.” the remains and a statue of
A multi-racial honor guard slave trader, Confederate
of South Carolina troop- general and Ku Klux Klan
ers wearing dress-gray founder Nathan Bedford
uniforms and white gloves Forrest from a prominent
city park.q
