Republicans are bad hombres, but i assume some of them are good people
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive...emoving-the-Confederate-Battle-Flag.html?_r=0
"On matters of race, South Carolina has a tough history. We all know that. Many of us have seen it in our own lives -- in the lives of our parents and our grandparents. We don’t need reminders. In spite of last week’s tragedy, we have come a long ways since those days and have much to be proud of, but there’s more we can do.
That brings me to the subject of the Confederate flag that flies on the State house grounds. For many people in our state, the flag stands for traditions that are noble. Traditions of history, of heritage, and of ancestry.
The hate filled murderer who massacred our brothers and sisters in Charleston has a sick and twisted view of the flag. In no way does he reflect the people in our state who respect and, in many ways, revere it. Those South Carolinians view the flag as a symbol of respect, integrity, and duty. They also see it as a memorial, a way to honor ancestors who came to the service of their state during time of conflict. That is not hate, nor is it racism.
At the same time, for many others in South Carolina, the flag is a deeply offensive symbol of a brutally oppressive past. As a state we can survive, as we have done, while still being home to both of those viewpoints. We do not need to declare a winner and a loser here. We respect freedom of expression, and that for those who wish to show their respect for the flag on their private property, no one will stand in your way.
But the statehouse is different and the events of this past week call upon us to look at this in a different way. Fifteen years ago, after much contentious debate, South Carolina came together in a bipartisan way to move the flag from atop the Capitol dome. Today, we are here in a moment of unity in our state without ill will, to say it’s time to move the flag from the Capitol grounds.
A hundred and fifty years after the end of the Civil War, the time has come."
