The Confederate Flag is Finally Coming Down

Following the Charleston massacre, the State of South Carolina is finally going to take down the Confederate flag.  Yahoo News reports that:

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina House approved a bill removing the Confederate flag from the Capitol grounds, a stunning reversal in a state that was the first to leave the Union in 1860 and raised the flag again at its Statehouse more than 50 years ago to protest the civil rights movement.

The move early Thursday came after more than 13 hours of passionate and contentious debate, and just weeks after the fatal shootings of nine black church members, including a state senator, at a Bible study in Charleston."South Carolina can remove the stain from our lives," said 64-year-old Rep. Joe Neal, a black Democrat first elected in 1992. "I never thought in my lifetime I would see this."The House easily approved the Senate bill by a two-thirds margin (94-20), and the bill now goes to Republican Gov. Nikki Haley's desk. She supports the measure, which calls for the banner to come down within 24 hours of her signature.

"It is a new day in South Carolina, a day we can all be proud of, a day that truly brings us all together as we continue to heal, as one people and one state," Haley said in a statement.

That symbol of slavery, hatred, segregation and treason should have been removed years ago. It is a shame that nine innocent people had to die in order to finally get that hate flag removed.

This is a great symbolic victory. However, we should not be pacified and deceived by symbols. The larger, more significant struggle continues. We must now bring down the Confederate mentality and its institutions.