Two weeks ago, we reported on the confederate flag controversy in our Top 5 stories. This week, we witnessed its removal from the South Carolina State Capitol and remembered everything this symbol stands for.
They pooled by the thousands in the scorching July heat — white and black, old and young, civil rights veterans and everyday Southerners who grew up with the symbols and assumptions of the racial order of the South. They waited quietly at first, but eventually erupted into spontaneous chants of “Take it down!”
And when the red and blue Confederate battle flag was finally, permanently lowered here from its place of honor on the grounds of the South Carolina State House, they chanted again:
“U.S.A.! U.S.A.!”
Around 9:45 a.m., a seven-member gray-suited honor guard from the South Carolina Highway Patrol appeared in front of the State House, where state officials estimated that more than 8,000 had gathered. Within minutes, the troopers — five white and two black — began a slow, closely orchestrated march toward the 30-foot pole. Two of the white-gloved troopers crossed the decorative fence that has long stood around the pole. Soon one of them was turning a crank inserted into the pole and the flag began to descend. The crowd cheered. It took less than 30 seconds for the flag to come down. By late afternoon the flagpole was removed, too.
We loved John Oliver’s take on the event! Watch it here:
