Black Lawmakers Against Flag Bill

A proposal that would remove the Confederate flag from South Carolina’s statehouse dome in Columbia faces an uphill battle in the state House, where most black lawmakers say they will vote against the bill. At least 24 of the 26 black members of the House feel that the bill passed by the Senate on Thursday doesn’t go far enough, said House Minority Leader Gilda Cobb-Hunter. The bill would take the flag off the dome and out of the House and Senate chambers, but place a similar flag behind the Confederate Soldier Monument on the statehouse grounds. “We’ve been very clear with the Senate side that we were not going to support a flag on Main Street,” said Rep. John L. Scott Jr., a former chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus.