2nd LD Writethru: South Carolina Statehouse removes controversial symbol of racism

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.

As thousands of cheerful people were gathering on Friday around the Statehouse grounds to witness the removal, it settled for now political debates raging on for weeks about what the Confederate flag truly represents.

A historic but deeply divisive symbol, the Confederate battle flag belonged to the pro-slavery side in the Civil War, with some hailing it as a symbol of Southern heritage while others regarded it as a potent symbol of slavery and white supremacy.

However, the history of racism in the Southern state, which was the first pro-slavery state to leave the Union in 1860 ahead of Civil War, was unlikely to be forgone soon as protests against the removal of the Confederate flag were widely expected.

The white supremacist group Ku Klux Klan had already 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 in a racially motivated massacre.

The Ku Klux Klan, also known as the KKK, is known for its history of violence toward African-Americans.

The removal of the Confederate flag came one day after more than 13 hours of contentious debate in the state House led to an overwhelming approval vote for a bill passed by the state Senate to remove the Confederate flag.

The debates in the state House started late Wednesday night and was stretched into early Thursday morning by state lawmakers who adamantly defended the flag by laying out a lengthy list of amendments to the state Senate-passed bill.

Among the amendments, lawmakers called for a statewide referendum on the flag's future. The amendment was eventually rejected, but if a statewide referendum had been held, the certainty of removing the Confederate flag, a moved endorsed by U. S. President Barack Obama, would not have been guaranteed.

According to a latest survey by the U.S. TV network CNN, a majority of Americans say the Confederate flag represents not racism but southern pride. However, opinions about what the flag represents are sharply divided across the racial line.

The CNN poll showed that while 72 percent of the African- Americans see the Confederate flag as a symbol of racism, only a quarter of white Americans agree.

Debates about the symbolism of the Confederate flag was reignited after a 21-year-old white gunman Dylann Roof shot down nine African-American churchgoers on June 17. According to the police, Roof, an advocate of the Confederate flag, stayed at a prayer meeting for almost one hour before opening fire. A law enforcement official was quoted by the U.S. TV network CNN as saying that witnesses told them that the suspect said he was at the church "to shoot black people." Endite