(Photo: Google Images)
CNN and other networks broadcast the removal of the Confederate flag from the state capit0l in Columbia, South Carolina today at 10 a.m. EST. CNN host Don Lemon spoke with activist/writers Charles Blow and Van Jones during the historical moment, who spoke of the historical significance of removing a flag that had been a reminder of a painful period of the country’s history. Van Jones and many bystanders cried as the flag came down.
The Confederate flag has been removed less than one month after the murder of nine black Americans during Bible study at the historical Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. The event also happened weeks after activist Bree Newsome scaled the SC statehouse and took down the flag in protest of the AME murders and the failure of Gov. Nikki Haley to order the flag removed during the funeral services of State Senator and Reverend Clementa Pinckney, who was a victim of the crime. Dylan Roof who carried out the murders in the name of the flag and racist beliefs about blacks in this country. Eventually, Gov. Haley, who initially was a supporter of flag, changed her mind after international protests against the flag remaining on the statehouse, signing legislation to ensure its removal.
This post was written by Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., founder & editor-in-chief of the Burton Wire. Follow her on Twitter @Ntellectual.
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