Thursday, March 28, 2024

9 Pens Used to Sign S.C.’s Confederate Flag Bill Going to Emanuel 9 Families

nikki haley signs flag amendment

*A little after 4 p.m. today, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signed a bill authorizing removal of the Confederate battle flag from State House grounds. Nine of the pens used in the signature will be given to the families of the nine victims of the Charleston church massacre, she announced.

The state’s long struggle over the polarizing symbol will end at 10 a.m. Friday, when the Confederate battle flag – a fixture on statehouse grounds for half a century – will be lowered for good.

It was written into the bill that the flag is to be taken down within 24 hours of Gov. Haley signing the bill.

“We are now looking forward to the future and the future of our children,” Gov. Haley said after the bill was signed.

confederate flag bill
South Carolina’s Confederate Flag bill before Gov. Haley’s signature, and the nine pens grouped above it that will go to the families of the Emanuel 9. – Columbia, S.C. (July 9, 2015)

The flag will be moved to the state’s Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum for display.

Early Thursday morning, the South Carolina House of Representatives voted — 94-20 — to take down the flag, giving final approval to a bill that passed the state Senate earlier in the week.

The vote count was more than the two-thirds needed — but it came after a handful of lawmakers tried their best to stall the procedure, proposing amendment after amendment that led the debate to drag on more than 12 hours.

The state House vote may even bring immediate benefits to South Carolina. NAACP President Cornell William Brooks said the group will consider lifting a 15-year economic boycott against the state during a national convention this weekend.

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