Why South Carolina's capitol didn’t lower its Confederate flag to half-staff
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In the hours after the massacre at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, American and South Carolina flags across that state dipped to half-staff in honor of the nine killed.
But the Confederate battle flag that sits on the grounds of the capitol in Columbia was left untouched. Given that the 21-year-old, bowl-cut miscreant who fired his .45 in the sanctuary did so in the name of white supremacy, the untouched emblem became a sore spot on Thursday.
Officials said the reason why the flag has not been touched is that its status is outlined, by law, as being under the protected purview of the full S.C. Legislature, which controls if and when it comes down.
State law reads, in part, the state “shall ensure that the flags authorized above shall be placed at all times as directed in this section and shall replace the flags at appropriate intervals as may be necessary due to wear.”
National President and CEO of the NAACP The Rev. Cornell Brooks called for the flag to be taken down in a press conference Friday.
"We cannot have the Confederate flag [over] the state capitol," Brooks said.
About the Author
Jim Galloway, the newspaper’s former political columnist, was a writer and editor at the AJC for four decades.
