Confirming earlier reports, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called for the removal of the Confederate flag from the grounds of the state Capitol. Speaking in a Monday afternoon press conference, Haley opened by saying that "We needed to heal. We were able to start that process not by talking about issues that divide us but by holding vigils ... Our state is grieving, but we are also coming together."
Haley cited the state's response to the police shooting of Walter Scott, her own election as a minority woman governor, and the election of Sen. Tim Scott as an African American U.S. senator. But she also acknowledged that "on matters of race, South Carolina has a tough history."
Dylann Roof does not reflect South Carolina's view of the Confederate flag, Haley insisted at length, and South Carolinians remain free to display the flag on their private property, "but the Statehouse is different, and the events of this past week call upon us to look at this in a different way." To spirited applause, Haley said "It's time to move the flag from the Capitol grounds."
"There will be time for discussion and debate, but the time for action is coming soon," with the legislature having the opportunity to vote to remove the flag in coming weeks.
It's quite a shift from last October, when Haley said she had "not had one conversation with a single CEO about the Confederate flag."
This is a move that would have been unthinkable a week ago, and seemed extremely unlikely even in the immediate aftermath of the massacre at Emanuel AME Church. After all, the flag has been padlocked onto its pole, its place there cemented by a 2000 law requiring a 2/3 vote of the state legislature to remove it. It was held there not just by physical locks but through a strong statement of political will. That two-thirds requirement, though, might itself be undone by a simple majority vote, and with Haley and some legislative Republicans calling for the flag's removal in the wake of the Confederate-flag-inflected racist murders in Charleston, that might be possible.
MSNBC is reporting that President Obama and Vice President Biden will attend the funeral of State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, with Obama delivering the eulogy. Removing the Confederate flag will also be an apt memorial.