Story highlights "The problem for our party is that our approach often appears cold and unwelcoming to minorities," Haley said

Haley called on Republicans to do a better job of listening to voices from people like Black Lives Matter members

Washington (CNN) Nikki Haley, the Republican governor of South Carolina who pressed for the removal of the Confederate battle flag from state property this summer, acknowledged that the GOP still has an image problem with minority voters, calling it "shameful."

"The problem for our party is that our approach often appears cold and unwelcoming to minorities," Haley, who was raised in South Carolina by immigrant parents from India, said in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington on Wednesday. "That's shameful and it has to change."

Haley's effort to remove the Confederate flag followed the June shooting in Charleston of black parishioners during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church allegedly by an avowed white supremacist. The massacre, combined with several instances of unarmed African-Americans dying at the hands of police, has inspired a growing movement called "Black Lives Matter."

Activists are calling for police reform and have interrupted presidential campaign events to make their voices heard.

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