South Carolina’s Confederate flag is down, but the debate over the Civil War’s meaning goes on
Heritage or hate? As the Confederate battle flag came down Friday at the South Carolina Capitol, divisions remain deep over the meaning of the symbol.
Those who see the flag as an emblem of an era when African Americans were chained, whipped and traded as chattel cheered the move. Those who see the flag as a celebration of Southern heritage and respect for the soldiers who died fighting for the Confederacy did not.
The final vote by South Carolina legislators to remove the flag came in the early morning Thursday, the same day the U.S. House of Representatives fell into an uproar over a proposed plan to ban displays of the flag on national parklands.
While South Carolina's flag was taken down on Friday, the Confederate symbol remains part of several state flags, and the debate over what the flag actually represents seems far from over:
The flag means heritage
The flag means hate
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