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1st LD: South Carolina Statehouse removes controversial symbol of racism

Xinhua, July 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Confederate battle flag, a symbol of both racial hatred and southern pride, was removed on Friday from the State Capitol grounds of South Carolina amid outcry from the white supremacist group Ku Klux Klan to call for a rally against the removal.

The Confederate flag, raised on the state grounds 50 years ago to protest the nationwide civil rights movement, was removed at 10 a.m. ET on Friday, and would be stored at the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum of the state.

The removal of the flag settled for now political debates raging on for weeks about what the Confederate flag truly represents. Supporters argue that the flag represents the South heritage and pride, while opponents say the flag is a strong symbol of racial hatred.

However, the white supremacist group Ku Klux Klan announced earlier that a rally against the removal of the flag was slated for July 18 in the Statehouse grounds of South Carolina, one month after a white gunman shot down nine black churchgoers in Charleston -- the oldest and the second-largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina -- in a racially motivated massacre. Endi