Columbia, SC - Last week following the racially-motivated mass murder at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolinian ColorOfChange member Jamarr Brown started a petition “Take Down The Confederate Flag From The South Carolina Capitol.” Nearly 50,000 ColorOfChange members have joined him in demanding that Governor Nikki Haley and the South Carolina legislature permanently remove that banner of racial hatred from the capitol grounds in Columbia, SC. Today, Governor Nikki Haley announced her support for removing the flag. 

In response, Rashad Robinson, ColorOfChange.org Executive Director made the following statement: 

“We commend Governor Nikki Haley for standing on the right side of history by supporting the removal of the confederate flag from the South Carolina capitol grounds. The South Carolina legislature needs to vote this summer to permanently remove the emblem of racial hatred from the capitol and eliminate it from all government buildings. 

“Though we don’t always agree with her politically, Governor Haley has promised true leadership by saying she will call the legislature into special session if they adjourn without taking up this issue. It is now up to the South Carolina legislators to choose whether they will continue to callously defend the confederate flag or remove it and condemn the racist violence and hateful intimidation it represents.

“Removing the flag from the capitol grounds is one important symbolic step. Yet, Governor Haley reminded us in her speech that South Carolina still issues Confederate flag license plates -- as do 9 other states. The confederate flag was born out of a government defending the enslavement of Black people and resurrected as an emblem for whites violently opposing racial integration. Any government that recognizes the flag is declaring that it cherishes a history of racial terror.”