CHARLESTON: “The time has come for the Confederate battle flag to move from a public position in front of the state capitol to a place of history — the state museum, the Confederate museum,” said Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley. “The Confederate battle flag years and years ago was appropriated as a symbol of hate,” Riley said, saying it was used by racist groups and others opposed to “equality among the races.” South Carolina Senator Tim Scott agreed that the flag “represents pain and oppression” for those who don’t support it. “It is time for the flag to come down,” said Scott, the first black Republican congressman from South Carolina since the Reconstruction era that followed the Civil War.

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