House of representatives vote means the banner could come down from statehouse grounds within days following a marathon debate by lawmakers

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The South Carolina house of representatives has approved taking down the Confederate flag from the state capitol’s grounds.

Republican governor Nikki Haley said it was “a new day in South Carolina, a day we can all be proud of” after the bill was approved.

She said the measure “truly brings us all together as we continue to heal, as one people and one state”.

The house approved the bill 93-27, and it must be ratified before being sent to Haley, who supports it. It has already been passed by the state senate.

The flag must then be removed within 24 hours of her signing the bill – which could happen as early as Thursday.

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It represents 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 against the civil rights movement.

The move came just after 1am on Thursday, after more than 13 hours of at times contentious debate. It follows the fatal shootings of nine black church members, including a state senator, at a Bible study in Charleston. The alleged gunman, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, is believed to have supported white supremacy and posed in many photos next to the flag.

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The campaign to remove the flag from South Carolina’s capitol grounds had been dragging on into the night, with the House of Representatives refusing to adjourn after 12 hours of debate.



The chamber voted 111-3 to keep going as the clock moved toward midnight during a marathon session on Wednesday to decide the future of a banner that symbolizes slavery and racism for many, but southern heritage for others.

Tempers began to fray as Republicans proposed 68 amendments in an attempt to soften the impact of legislation to move the flag to a museum.

At each turn, they were beaten back by a slightly larger, bipartisan group of legislators who believed there must be no delay.



South Carolina legislators were stuck debating issues such as whether flowers should be planted where the flagpole bearing a Confederate flag stands at the state house in Columbia.

The closest vote in the GOP-controlled body came on an amendment to place the state flag beside the monument to Confederate soldiers at the front of the statehouse.

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Changing the senate bill could have meant weeks or even months of delay, perhaps blunting momentum that has grown since the church massacre.

Republican Jenny Horne reminded her colleagues she was a descendant of Confederate president Jefferson Davis, and scolded fellow members of her party for stalling the debate.

She cried as she remembered the funeral of her colleague, state senator Clementa Pinckney, the pastor of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church, who was gunned down as his wife and daughter locked themselves in an office.

“For the widow of Senator Pinckney and his two young daughters, that would be adding insult to injury and I will not be a part of it,” she shouted.

She said later during a break she had not intended to speak but got frustrated with fellow Republicans.

Opponents of removing the flag talked about grandparents who passed down family treasures and lamented that the flag had been “hijacked” or “abducted” by racists.



Mike Pitts, who remembered playing with a Confederate ancestor’s cavalry sword while growing up, said for him the flag was a reminder of how dirt-poor southern farmers fought Yankees, not because they hated blacks or supported slavery, but because their land was being invaded.

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Those soldiers should be respected just as soldiers who fought in the Middle East or Afghanistan, he said, recalling his own military service. Pitts then turned to a lawmaker he called a dear friend, recalling how his black colleague nearly died in Vietnam.

“I’m willing to move that flag at some point if it causes a twinge in the hearts of my friends,” Pitts said. “But I’ll ask for something in return.”

The flag was moved from the top of the statehouse dome to a 30-foot pole on the building grounds in 2000 after nearly four decades of protests against it. After the shooting in Charleston, the push to take down the flag intensified, with hundreds demonstrating at the state house three days later.

Since then, the Capitol grounds have been the site of ongoing protests as people demonstrated against the flag or defended it. Last month, activist Bree Newsome was arrested after climbing the flagpole and pulling down the flag.

State senator Vincent Sheheen, who introduced the bill, had called for the flag to be removed last year. “I’m looking forward to more steps toward unity and healing in South Carolina,” he said.

“And most importantly, my thoughts and prayers still remain with our friend Clem, his family and the eight other victims and families,” Sheheen said. “I wish he were here with us to celebrate but I know he’s looking down on us extremely proud of what has been accomplished.”

Associated Press contributed to this report