U.S.
Jason MIczek / Reuters
The South Carolina Senate voted Monday to remove the Confederate battle flag from a pole on Statehouse grounds, though the proposal still needs approval from the state House and the governor.
The bill requires approval from at least two-thirds of each chamber; the Senate voted for it 37-3. Gov. Nikki Haley has said she wants the flag to come down and will sign the bill.
That vote came less than a week after the 15th anniversary of South Carolina taking the flag off the Capitol dome, where it flew since the early 1960s, and moving it to a nearby monument honoring Confederate soldiers.
"We now have the opportunity, the obligation to put the exclamation point on an extraordinary narrative of good and evil, of love and mercy that will take its place in the history books," said Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort.
Lawmakers largely ignored the flag until the killing of nine black people during a Bible study at a historic African-American church on June 17.
Earlier Monday, the Senate rejected a pair of amendments: one that would fly the flag only on Confederate Memorial Day and one that would leave the flag's fate up to a popular vote.
State Sen. Lee Bright, who suggested the popular vote, said the Confederate battle flag has been misused by people like Dylann Roof, who is charged with nine counts of murder in the church shootings and posed in pictures with the rebel banner.
"I'm more against taking it down in this environment than any other time just because I believe we're placing the blame of what one deranged lunatic did on the people that hold their Southern heritage high," said Bright, a Republican.
A survey asking lawmakers how they intend to vote after Haley's call to remove the flag found at least 33 senators and 83 House members agreed with her, indicating sufficient support for taking down the flag. But the survey by The Post and Courier newspaper, the South Carolina Press Association and The Associated Press asked only about whether to keep or lower the flag. It did not include any possible changes that could cause the proposal to lose support.
The flag will not come down immediately, even with Haley's support. There are indications the proposal could have a tougher road in the House. Some powerful Republicans have not said how they will vote, including Speaker Jay Lucas.
Some Republicans want to keep the flagpole and put a different flag on it, such as the U.S. flag, the South Carolina flag or a flag flown by Confederate troops but without the same connotations as the battle flag.
Democrats said they cannot support any flag linked to the Confederacy, and Haley and business leaders agreed.
"There is no good-looking Confederate flag. It all stands for the same thing — secession," said Lonnie Randolph, the president of the South Carolina chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The Associated Press
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