Reaction to Governor’s call for Confederate flag’s removal
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — The call has been ringing through downtown Columbia for days. On Monday, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley responded. “It’s time to move the flag from the capitol grounds.” Democratic State Representative Todd Rutherford was excited to hear the news. “When you can stand with democrats and republicans, blacks and whites, together in south carolina and say we’re gonna make this happen and you can feel in your heart and know in your head that it’s actually gonna happen,” he says. “This time is different.” This time comes in the wake of an horrific tragedy at an historic African-American church in Charleston. “If it makes everyone feel better to take the flag down it’s really just marginalizing something which is murder,” says Sons of Confederate Veterans S.C. Division Editor Paul Graham. Graham says taking the flag down sets a bad precedent. “You can’t swing a stick around here and hit something that isn’t Confederate.” Context aside, South Carolina NAACP President Lonnie Randolph says this is just a first step in equality. “This is not just for people who look like I do,” Randolph says. “This is about everyone being treated just and fair.” Lawmakers say, that’s part of fulfilling State Senator Clementa Pinckney’s legacy. “We’re trying to make South Carolina be what Senator Pinckney would’ve wanted,” Rutherford says. Drivers passing the State House, showed their smiles with honks. “Listen to that…isn’t that like music? it’s time for everyone in America to act for the greater good,” Winston-Salem resident Deborah Klaus says. Klaus drove to Charleston last week after the attack on Mother Emanuel AME Church. Columbia resident Vivian Armstead says she remembers when the flag flew on top of the State House dome. “But there’s hope that out of something this bad, something good had to come.” Rising above a decades-old Capitol City fixture, to promote peace on a state in mourning.
