The Confederate Flag Debate: How Leaders and Businesses Have Responded
Confederate flag removed from South Carolina statehouse.
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#TakeDowntheFlag - See how politicians, businesses and community leaders have responded. (Photos from Left: Alex Wong/Getty Images, Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Confederate Flag Removed From South Carolina Capitol - Shortly after 10 a.m. Highway Patrol honor guards took down the Confederate battle flag that has flown over the South Carolina statehouse grounds for 54 years. Thousands gathered on the grounds to watch the divisive symbol come down, at times shouting, "Take it down" and "Hey, hey, hey, goodbye!" It was quite symbolic at the end of the ceremony, as an African-American trooper handed over the battle flag to an archivist who would place it in the nearby Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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Protesters Demand Florida County Take Down Confederate Flag - Several protesters gathered Wednesday outside of the McPherson Governmental Complex in Ocala, Fla., to oppose the Marion County's decision to fly the Confederate flag, the Associated Press reports. A Democratic chairwoman said the that the Confederate flag couldn't be protested because it wasn't on the commissioner's agenda. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
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New Orleans Mayor Asks City Council to Move Confederate Monuments - New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is another leader joining in on removing symbols of the Confederacy from landmarks in his city. Landrieu is asking the city council to replace four Confederate monuments, one including a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee and one of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. (Photo: Erika Goldring/Getty Images)
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S.C. Rep Makes Passionate Speech on Removal of Confederate Flag - Before the South Carolina Senate voted to pull down the Confederate flag, Republican South Carolina representative Jenny Horne of Dorchester County stood at the podium of the floor and made it clear that the state no longer had time to prolong pulling the flag down. "And if any of you vote to amend you are ensuring that this flag will fly beyond Friday," said Horne while subbing. "And for the widow of Clementa C. Pinckney and his two young daughters, that would be adding insult to injury." (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
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Walt Disney World Removes Confederate Flag - Walt Disney World has removed a Confederate flag from its Epcot Center, a part of the theme park that takes visitors on a historical journey through American history. Reps from the park did not comment further on its removal. (Photo: Matt Stroshane/Getty Images)
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Amazon - Amazon announced Tuesday, June 23 that it would pull all Confederate merchandise from its website. (Photo: David McNew/Getty Images)
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Sears - Sears announced that it would stop selling Confederate merchandise on Tuesday, June 23. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley - On Wednesday, June 24, Alabama took down its Confederate banners on the statehouse grounds. Gov. Robert Bentley ordered that the divisive symbols come down on Tuesday, June 23. (Photo: Sarah Cole/AL.COM /Landov)
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Terry McAuliffe - Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is moving to have the Confederate flag banished from state license plates, according to AP. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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Nikki Haley - "150 years after the end of the Civil War, the time has come," South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said on Monday. "That flag, while an integral part of the past, does not represent the future of our great state." (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Nikki Haley - "150 years after the end of the Civil War, the time has come," South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said on Monday. "That flag, while an integral part of the past, does not represent the future of our great state." (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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President Obama - Obama's press secretary Josh Earnest has said that the president believes that the Confederate flag "should be taken down and placed in a museum where it belongs." POTUS also acknowledges that it is a state issue. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Sen. Tim Scott (R, S.C.) - A source tells AP that Sen. Tim Scott supports the removal of the Confederate flag from the state building. He stood along with Gov. Haley and other local lawmakers at a press conference on Monday, June 22. (Photo: Ron Sachs/Landov)
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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R, S.C.) - "We're not going to give this a guy an excuse about a book he might have read or a movie he watched or a song he listened to or a symbol out anywhere. It's him ... not the flag," Graham told CNN New Day's Alisyn Camerota. Later, the senator called for the removal of the flag from the statehouse grounds. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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Joseph P. Riley Jr. - "The flag got appropriated by hate groups. We can't put it in a public place where it can give any oxygen to hate-filled people," said Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. (Photo: John Taggert/EPA /Landov)
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South Carolina House Majority Leader Jay Lucas - "Last week's terrorizing act of violence shook the very core of every South Carolinian," House Majority Leader Jay Lucas said in a statement. "Moving South Carolina forward from this terrible tragedy requires a swift resolution of this issue." (Photo: Jason Miczek/Reuters/Landov)
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Ben Carson - “The Confederate flag causes a lot of people angst and they are not able to see beyond that. I think the people of South Carolina should sit down and have an intelligent discussion about what can they use that captures their heritage, captures the heritage of America and allows them to coexist in peace.” (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo)
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Jeb Bush - “My position on how to address the Confederate flag is clear. In Florida, we acted, moving the flag from the state grounds to a museum where it belonged.” (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Ted Cruz - “I understand the passions that this debate evokes on both sides. Both those who see a history of racial oppression and a history of slavery, which is the original sin of our nation. And we fought a bloody civil war to expunge that sin. But I also understand those who want to remember the sacrifices of their ancestors and the traditions of their states — not the racial oppression, but the historical traditions. And I think often this issue is used as a wedge to try to divide people.” (Photo: Carlos Barria /Landov)
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Marco Rubio - “Ultimately the people of South Carolina will make the right decision for South Carolina, and I believe in their capacity to make that decision. The next president of the United States will not make that decision. That’s up for the people of South Carolina to make, and I think they’ll make the right one like they’ve made them in the past.” (Photo: Richard Ellis/Getty Images)
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Sons of Confederate Veterans - "Do not associate the cowardly actions of a racist to our Confederate Banner," South Carolina Commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Leland Summers said in a statement. "There is absolutely no link between The Charleston Massacre and The Confederate Memorial Banner. Don't try to create one." (Photo: Drew Angerer/The Washington Times /Landov)
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Jim Clyburn (D, S.C.) - “I’ve been saying for some time now, my friends in the Congressional Black Caucus will tell you, I’ve been saying to them that there’s this rightward drift in the country that I think is going too far. And people get emboldened by all of this,” Clyburn said. “We hear all this discussion about the Confederate battle flag…. That’s a battle flag that flies in front of the statehouse. That is a flag of rebellion." (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Doug Brannon - "I just didn't have the balls for five years to do it," state Rep. Doug Brannon, who was elected in 2010, told AP. "When my friend was assassinated for being nothing more than a black man, I decided it was time for that thing to be off the Statehouse grounds," Brannon said. "It's not just a symbol of hate, it's actually a symbol of pride in one's hatred."(Photo: CNN)
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Cornell William Brooks - NAACP president and CEO Cornell William Brooks referred to the Confederate symbol as "an emblem of a bygone era" and demanded that the flag come down. (Photo: Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)
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Walmart - On Monday, June 22, Walmart announced that it would remove all Confederate merchandise from its stores and its website. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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Geno's Steaks - The owner of Geno's Steaks in Philadelphia has removed his Confederate sticker from his motorcycle after a customer complained to the store owner. "We all have family who we don’t see eye to eye with, we can’t change the fact that we are family. Like all father [and] sons we had different opinions and views. What we can do is learn and make progress from this," Geno Vento, the store's owner, said. "The offending image has been removed from the public view." (Photo: William Thomas Cain/Getty Images)
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Philip Gunn - Mississippi's Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn said Monday that the Confederate emblem needs to be removed from the state flag, according to AP. He said in a statement that history is important, "but that does not mean we must let it define us." (Photo: Gil Ford)