He said removing the flag was “one small step that reduces the culture of division” in South Carolina.
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In a speech immediately before the vote, Verdin told tales of his ancestors who fought in the Civil War and said he was concerned that if society didn’t show “reverence and respect” for the symbols of their forebears, “those who came after us might treat us the same way”.
The House, which has 124 members, is where the proposal could run into trouble.
But by law, the final decision rests with both houses of the Republican-dominated South Carolina legislature, which could resolve the issue before going on its summer break this week. Politicians and businesses are trying to banish the flag, widely viewed as a symbol of slavery, across the country in response to the Bible study killings.
The final tally was 36-3, according to NPR, and the House will now take up the issue, perhaps as early as Wednesday. “As far as they are concerned, they won the war”, Jackson said.
His collection includes an authentic Confederate States of America belt buckle, a black and white portrait Confederate States of America Lt. Gen. Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard, and a memorial plaque the people of New Orleans created to commemorate Toutant-Beauregard’s life that Ringhoffer keeps in his coach house. Rep. Todd Rutherford, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, on Tuesday said he believed flag foes have the two-thirds majority they need.
Among the victims was the church’s pastor, Reverend Clementa Pinckney, who was also a state senator, and his senate desk was draped in black for Monday’s debate.
Mississippi, one of seven state flags with Confederate symbolism, is the only state flag still incorporating the Confederate emblem.
On Monday, Senators tabled proposed amendments to the bill and passed a second reading of Bill 897, which calls for the flag and place it in the Confederate Relic Room during a second reading of the bill.
The Senate votes to take the flag down April 12. In light of the shootings, we fully support the removal of the Confederate Flag from the grounds of State Capitol.
“The Senate proposal, which would remove the flag from a Confederate monument on the Statehouse lawn, would go to the House for consideration”, Smith and Bacon wrote.
News media said the Klan has obtained a permit for a rally of 100 to 200 people on the State House grounds in Columbia on July 18. Harvey Peeler of Cherokee County. South Carolina was the first state to secede from the union in 1860. Republican Sen. Lee Bright called the vote an attempt to revise history. “The flag wasn’t displayed for a 100 years on the statehouse grounds”, Martin said, adding that it was put up for the centennial celebrations of the Civil War.
“You couldn’t repeat it today about what was being said about us going to school with black children”, he said.
But Jackson, who was born in Greenville, also said the massacre in Charleston had “a transformative impact upon the climate of the state”. Vincent Sheheen, a Democrat whose suggestion that the flag be taken down while running for governor past year was called a “stunt” by Haley, was given a high-five from a fellow legislator.
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The pair started an online petition last month that quickly gained traction, calling for the statue to be removed from campus and placed in a museum where it can be contextualized and learned from.
