In an overwhelming majority, South Carolina senators voted 37 to 3 in favor of removing the Confederate Flag from the Statehouse grounds on Monday (July 6).
The sweeping decision comes after Dylann Storm Roof killed nine black parishioners at Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston on the evening of June 17. Since then, debate about the Confederate flag and its history has been at the forefront of many social and political conversations.
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“I’d implore us to pass this bill today in the pursuit of peace and mutual up bringing,” Sen. George E. Campsen III, a Republican from Charleston, said.
In order for the flag to be removed, the bill has to pass a two-thirds majority vote in the house. That decision will be made on Tuesday.
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Fierce debate over the flag and its history took place during the Senate vote, where some officials said its removal wouldn’t help cure America’s race issues.
“To remove the flag from the State House grounds and thinking it would change history, would be like removing a tattoo from the corpse of a loved one and thinking that would change the loved one’s obituary,” said Republican Majority Leader Harvey S. Peeler.
If the vote to remove the flag receives the majority in the house, the Confederate Flag will be taken down from the Statehouse after standing front and center for nearly five decades.
Well that one way to express yourself about your thoughts on the confederate flag 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/QdEYsB50oD
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) July 6, 2015