COLUMBIA, South Carolina -- Around 2,000 people showed up at the foot of the South Carolina's Statehouse in the capital city of Columbia on Saturday to demand that the Palmetto state get rid of the Confederate flag that flies on capitol grounds.
They spoke of the irony that people here can claim racism doesn't exist while a symbol of slavery and black oppression flutters above a monument to the Confederate Army just steps from the Statehouse, and how it's long been time for the flag to be removed.
"We are a state divided by racism," Darus Williams, a Columbia native who lives in Savannah, Georgia but drove up for the rally, told Mashable. "I think racism is an issue we don't want to talk about."
"Take it down" #TakeItDown rally to get the Confederate flag off Capitol grounds in SC. https://t.co/jIFXSvzcwl— Colin Daileda (@ColinDaileda) June 20, 2015
The flag never flew at the Capitol during the Civil War, but first went up in 1962 in response to the Civil Rights Movement. It first flew atop the Statehouse dome, but in 2000 was replaced with a smaller version just across a short field from the building.
"I was born here and raised here, and since I've been alive we've been trying to get this flag down," Kristie Jordan, who lives in Columbia, told Mashable. "It's unfortunate it took this tragedy for us to come out here."
Signs at the #TakeItDown rally. People calling to get the Confederate flag off the SC state Capitol grounds. pic.twitter.com/G3FMysG5NB— Colin Daileda (@ColinDaileda) June 20, 2015
Anger at the Confederate flag's presence near the Statehouse in Columbia spiked after nine black people were murdered at the historically black Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Wednesday night in Charleston, South Carolina, allegedly by a white supremacist. People have argued that the Confederate flag's presence helps racism fester in the state.
Nearly 375,000 people have signed a petition on MoveOn.org to take the flag down as of this writing.
The Confederate symbol has also become something of a political football over the past few days, and many prominent politicians have avoided saying whether it should stay, though that's not the case for all of them.
Take down the #ConfederateFlag at the SC Capitol. To many, it is a symbol of racial hatred. Remove it now to honor #Charleston victims.— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) June 20, 2015
Nikki Haley, the state's governor, said she expects that people will talk about the flag's presence in the coming days, but didn't offer an opinion on whether it should come down. Haley defended the flag last year, saying it hasn't deterred business.
In press gaggle, Scott Walker said SC Gov Haley told him SC is going to have debate about Confederate flag after Charleston nine are buried.— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) June 21, 2015
South Carolina Republican state Rep. Norman Brannon said he planned to introduce a bill in December that would force the state to remove the flag.