Southern states, retailers drop Confederate flag after Charleston shooting

As South Carolina’s lawmakers voted Tuesday to consider removing the Confederate flag from the state Capitol grounds, debate over the iconic Southern emblem has expanded, with politicians, retailers, flag manufacturers, NASCAR, and even Google weighing in.

To some, the Confederate flag represents the South’s rich heritage and honors those who died in the Civil War. To others, it remains a monument to racism and white supremacy. Dylan Storm Roof, the 21-year-old charged with killing nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., posed in photos with the flag before his apparently racist-inspired rampage one week ago.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley urged the flag’s removal to a museum on Monday, and quickly gained support from many in the state legislature. The banner was initially raised over the South Carolina statehouse in 1962 to commemorate the Civil War centennial. It remained there until 2000 when the legislature voted to remove it. It was then raised as part of a memorial to fallen Confederate soldiers.

South Carolina wouldn’t be the first state to remove the Confederate flag. Fourteen years ago, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush had it taken from the Capitol grounds in Tallahassee and placed in the Museum of Florida History. A spokeswoman said at the time symbols of the state’s past should not be displayed in a divisive manner.

A host of current Southern state governors agree. This morning, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley ordered the flag removed the state Capitol grounds. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal have called for its removal from their states’ license plates, while Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is working with his state’s department of motor vehicles to remove it from some state license plates. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory plans to ask the state’s General Assembly to ban using the Confederate flag on specialty license plates.

Kentucky may consider removing a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis from its Capitol rotunda. Tennessee state legislators have supported removing a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader, from the statehouse. Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn has called for the removal of the Confederate symbol from the current state flag design, although the governor wants the flag to remain as-is.

In the midst of the furor, retailers Wal-Mart, Amazon, Target, Sears, and eBay announced this week they would no longer sell products featuring the Confederate flag.

“This decision is consistent with our long-standing policy that prohibits items that promote or glorify hatred, violence, and racial intolerance,” said eBay spokeswoman Johna Hoff.

Arts and crafts retailing site Etsy also banned Confederate-themed goods. Warner Bros. announced yesterday it would halt production of toys and replicas of the General Lee, the Confederate flag–bearing car featured in the 1980s-era TV show “The Dukes of Hazzard.” And Google has blocked ads featuring the flag, saying the emblem violates the company policy against content that could be “generally perceived” as hate.

And Valley Forge Flag Co., which has made flags since 1882, has decided to stop manufacturing the Confederate flag, canceling pending orders and removing references to it from its website.

“When you have a sea change moment like you have with the tragedy in Charleston, we felt it was simply the right thing to do,” said company Vice President Reggie VandenBosch. “We don’t want to do anything that causes pain or disunity for people.”

But other flag manufacturers will continue producing the flag, and some say sales have surged with the debate. Kerry McCoy, owner of Arkansas-based FlagandBanner.com, said over the next week her company expects to sell 50 Confederate flags—half of what the company usually sells in a year.

“I don’t sell the Confederate flag for any specific group; I just sell the flag,” McCoy said. “This is America. Everybody has a right to be represented whether you are a history buff or a nut.”

And debate over Southern symbols has not stopped at the Confederate flag. Vandals defaced a statue of John C. Calhoun in Charleston, as well as monuments in Maryland and Texas.

Kelly Barrow, commander in chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, thinks the revolt against Confederate emblems has gone too far. Roof’s actions should not become a stereotype for all those who associate with the Confederacy, he said.

“First it’s the flags, then the monuments, then the streets names, then the holidays,” he said. “I feel like it’s open season on anything Confederate.”

Barrow also suggested delaying the monument discussion until after the shooting victims’ funerals—a call echoed by some legislators.

“Bury the dead, then we can sit down and talk about all this,” he said.

But Najee Washington, whose grandmother Ethel Lance was killed in the shooting, said the flag is “just a part of the past we don’t need to be reminded of every day.”

Christians, including leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention, also have joined the call to put away the flag. Concerned Women for America President Penny Nance said she grew up in the South but no longer views the flag merely as a neutral part of the past.

“Although this flag has historic significance, we must look at it through the eyes of others who view this symbol as one of repression and slavery,” she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.