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To loud cheers, the Confederate flag comes down, pole and all

By Greg Suskin, wsoctv.com
By Greg Suskin, wsoctv.com

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Chants of “Nah nah nah nah/Hey hey hey/Good bye!"  began just minutes before a Highway Patrol honor guard marched in slow unison toward the lone flag pole outside the State House.

The crowd watching numbered in the thousands, and they screamed, sang, chanted and took pictures of a moment now sealed in history.

  • PRESS PLAY to watch raw video of the flag's removal:

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At 10 a.m. Friday, officers lowered the Confederate flag from its place of honor for the last 15 years and passed it to the director of a Confederate museum, only blocks away.

For Jason Curry, it sight was long overdue.

"I hate that nine people had to die to get that flag down, but in every fight there have to be sacrifices," he said.

Sandra Stokes was near tears, thinking of her parents and their struggles against racism.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en" width="300"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">South Carolina taking down the confederate flag - a signal of good will and healing, and a meaningful step towards a better future.</p>&mdash; President Obama (@POTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/619509587272691712">July 10, 2015</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

"They are deceased now, but thinking what they had to go through and what my kids won't have to go through, it's just awesome," she said.

Far beyond the large number of TV cameras, Gov. Nikki Haley, two previous governors and other dignitaries watched the historic moment from the steps of the Capitol. There were no speeches made, and no efforts to glorify the banner. It was gone in 10 minutes, and within four hours the flagpole itself, and the waist-high metal fence that once protected it, were also dismantled.

Watching it happen a mere three weeks after nine people were murdered in an alleged racially motivated attack at a Charleston church, made some question the timing.

Flag supporters were quiet, but there were several Confederate flags flying around the State House in the crowd.

Michael Lucas, a flag carrier, accused state leaders of bowing to political pressure.

“I think what they’ve done is politicized and taken an opportunity of the people that died … Where’s this going to change the issues with racism within the state, within the South, within the world?” Lucas said.

Lucas explains what the flag means to him:



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Nearby, William Bailey wore a hat with a Confederate flag on the back.  He told Channel 9 that it's fine to bring the flag down, but it was done in the wrong way.

  • WATCH VIDEO: Large crowds gather ahead of removal of Confederate flag:

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"They should have let us vote.  If they took a vote and everyone in South Carolina agreed to take it down, I’d be the first one to tell you to take it down," Bailey said.

H.K. Edgerton, an African-American, also carried a large rebel flag. He said people don't know or understand history, and called this, a sad day.

"This flag is a symbol of the spirit of Southern people," he said.

  • Join the conversation about this historic event on our Facebook page:

<div id="fb-root"></div><script>(function(d, s, id) {  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];  if (d.getElementById(id)) return;  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;  js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3";  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/wsoctv/posts/856018661101492" data-width="300"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/wsoctv/posts/856018661101492"><p>#BREAKING: The Confederate flag has been taken down from the South Carolina Statehouse.Large crowds gathered to see...</p>Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/wsoctv">WSOC-TV</a> on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/wsoctv/posts/856018661101492">Friday, July 10, 2015</a></blockquote></div></div>

Leslie Brown said she once felt that way, too, but not anymore.

"I don't think it means what it used to mean. I think it means inequality," she said.

The removal of the flag Friday came after a marathon week of debate at the state Legislature. Haley urged lawmakers to make it happen, threatening to call them back into an extended session if they did not.

The Senate debate lasted only an afternoon, and an overwhelming vote of 37-3 sent the bill to the House for approval.  Nearly 60 amendments were tacked on, including everything from flying the flag one day a year on Confederate Memorial Day, to raising another flag in its place to honor southern Civil War veterans.

After 14 hours of debate, the House passed the original Senate bill just after 1 a.m. Haley signed the bill into law that same day.

Fifteen years after the divisive flag was moved from the State Capitol dome to the grounds, it will now be invisible to passersby and visitors to the State Capitol.

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The South Carolina House approved a bill removing the Confederate flag from the Capitol grounds, a stunning reversal in a state that was the first to leave the Union in 1860 and raised the flag again at its Statehouse more than 50 years ago to protest the civil rights movement.

Gov. Nikki Haley signed the bill just after 4 p.m. Thursday at the Statehouse in Columbia.

  • PRESS PLAY to watch Nikki Haley's comments before signing the bill:

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During her speech before signing the bill, Haley acknowledged the "nine amazing people who forever changed South Carolina's history."

"We will bring it down with dignity and we will make sure it is stored in its rightful place," South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said.

A special armored van will take the flag to the Confederate relic room, where it eventually will be housed in a multimillion-dollar shrine lawmakers promised to build as part of a compromise to get the bill ordering the flag's removal through the House.

South Carolina's leaders first flew the battle flag over the Statehouse dome in 1961 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. It remained there to represent official opposition to the civil rights movement.

Decades later, mass protests against the flag by those who said it was a symbol of racism and white supremacy led to a compromise in 2000 with lawmakers who insisted that it symbolized Southern heritage and states' rights. The two sides came to an agreement to move the flag from the dome to a 30-foot pole next to a Confederate monument in front of the Statehouse.

"The Confederate flag is coming off the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse," Haley said.

The move early Thursday came after more than 13 hours of passionate and contentious debate, and just weeks after the fatal shootings of nine black church members, including a state senator, at a Bible study in Charleston.

"South Carolina can remove the stain from our lives," said 64-year-old Rep. Joe Neal, a black Democrat first elected in 1992. "I never thought in my lifetime I would see this."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en" width="300"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rope and podium are already set up on the 2nd floor of the state house for the 4pm bill signing to remove the flag. <a href="http://t.co/PrVLqtBmeZ">pic.twitter.com/PrVLqtBmeZ</a></p>&mdash; Greg Suskin (@GSuskinWSOC9) <a href="https://twitter.com/GSuskinWSOC9/status/619150837034668032">July 9, 2015</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Local leaders told Channel 9 the decision to take down the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds will have a huge impact nationwide.

"We hope that by removing the flag it produces something that allows us to see us as one country rather than a country divided by different ideals that hurt other individuals,” said Hassan Kirkland, an associate professor with JCSU.

Channel 9 called several flag stores like Conder Flag Company Thursday.  A manager said the store quickly sold out of the flag since the debate started and some said the debate has kept them from getting more.

"Pretty much all the manufacturers said we're not going make them,” said Barry Austin.

He didn’t know when the store would get another supply of the flags.

Malcolm Graham, a former North Carolina state senator, attended the bill signing.

His sister, Cynthia Hurd, was one of nine people killed inside the Charleston church in June that prompted the controversy over the Confederate symbol.

Graham was invited to the signing. He spoke to Channel 9 about it Thursday morning.

"I want to stand there and stand there for Cynthia. I want to make sure my sister is not just a name on a piece of paper. That she has life after death. That her life lives on," he said.

  • WATCH VIDEO: Former Sen. Malcom Graham speaks to Channel 9 on removal of Confederate flag:

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The House easily approved the Senate bill by a two-thirds margin (94-20), and the bill now goes to Republican Gov. Nikki Haley's desk. She supports the measure, which calls for the banner to come down within 24 hours of her signature.

"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 in a statement.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley released the following statement:

Today, in South Carolina, division has been replaced with unity.  Our state capitol building -- a building that belongs to all South Carolinians -- will house flags that belong to all South Carolinians as does the flag of our state and the flag of our country. 

For more than half a century, the confederate battle flag has been atop our state capitol or in front.  This reasonably insulted many of our citizens and kept alive wounds of prejudice and hate. For many years, efforts have been made to have this flag retired to a museum.

Today, at long last, this has been done.  Our state's response to a horrific act of racial hatred has been a clear and decisive act of graceful unity, respect and healing for all of our citizens.

Governor Haley and members of our General Assembly deserve the highest praise from our citizens. They will be able to carry with them for the rest of their lives deserved pride for this historic and healing action.

We have an opportunity to work together and build new bonds of acceptance, tolerance and inclusiveness for our children and grandchildren.

WSOC

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