Approximately one thousand people gathered for an Independence Day rally to “Take Down the Flag” at the Confederate Memorial on the capitol grounds in Columbia, SC.  There has been hope among the demonstration organizers that Gov. Nikki Haley would find a way to have the flag taken down on the 4^th of July, relocating the emblem of the Confederacy in a nearby museum. However, the state legislature is not scheduled to take up the issue until the following Tuesday and with the repeated votes required by their legislative procedure, the inevitable removal of the symbol of the Confederacy is still a few days away.

The Saturday event was peaceful with only supporters of the “Take Down the Flag” movement visible though there is a KKK rally scheduled for July 18^th.  Most legislators are eager to avoid such a racist connection with their state and will likely have the flag down before the KKK gathering.  Recent demonstrations in favor of keeping the Confederate flying on the capitol grounds have been sparsely attended and only a few state legislators, all Republicans, have voiced their support for keeping the Confederate emblem where it is.

Racism isn’t what it used to be during the blatant days of America’s apartheid era with its segregated schools, neighborhoods, lunch counters, and churches.  There are no more “coloreds only” and “whites only” drinking fountains and restrooms but racism was not and cannot be legislated out of existence.  From the shooting of the unarmed Florida teenager, Trayvon Martin, in 2012 to the murder of nine members of the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC, just last month, our nation has been forced to look again at the insidious though often subtle ways in which racism has been kept alive.

The roots of racism are difficult to dig out, especially in the American south.  So the battle has currently focused on a symbol, the Confederate flag.  Twenty years ago there was a debate in South Carolina about removing the flag from the state capitol building and the two sides settled on an uncomfortable compromise.  The flag was moved from atop the capitol building where it was hardly visible to a memorial on the capitol grounds where it was arguably much more visible on a thirty foot tall poll surrounded by an iron fence in front of the capitol building.

Two weeks after the mass murder in the Mother Emanuel AME Church, barricades are still in front of the church while lines of mourners file by, leaving flowers and handwritten memorials.  Nowhere among the tourist shops of downtown Charleston and Columbia can you find any of the once ubiquitous Confederate flags or any of the apparel, license plate holders, or beach towels that bore the flag’s image. Overnight, retailers realized that any remaining argument between seeing the flag as a sign of southern pride or as being representative of blatant racism had been settled and business owners want nothing more to do with it.

Though very few are willing to publicly display the “bars and stars” during this time of reflection and mourning, possibly racially related incidents continue to occur.  At least three fires in predominantly African American southern churches have been judged to be arson in the past two weeks.  Though the shooter in the incident where nine people lost their lives in Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston said that he wanted to start a “race war” not only has he failed in that attempt but it seems that a new season of meaningful conversation and action gives many on both sides of an ancient racial divide reason for hope in a better future.

Following the murders in Charleston, Roger Ray preached a sermon about the tragedy.