The tragedy in Charleston has revived the movement to take the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina statehouse grounds.
On Monday June 22 - five days after the shooting in the AME Emanuel Church - South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley called a press conference to announce that, it is time to remove the flag from our capitol grounds…This flag, while an integral part of our past, does not represent the future of our great state.
This is a particularly sensitive issue because the flag is on state property.
The Confederate flag on public property leads many to ask: what message is the government sending?
The Case Against Flying the Confederate Flag
For those who want the flag to come down, the message is a reminder of white supremacy and the war fought to maintain slavery.
States have been taking Confederate flags and monuments down for years now, and refusing new requests to fly them.
Just this term the Supreme Court in Walker v Texas Sons of Confederate Veterans permitted Texas to reject a specialty license plate proposed by the Sons of Confederate Veterans with a Confederate battle flag on it.
