South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s announcement that she would try to have the Confederate battle flag removed from the state capitol was met with both nods of approval and derision in media.
Kudos in the press came from those who were happy that Haley had at long last put forth a bipartisan effort to have the controversial flag removed.
“[L]et us celebrate [Nikki Haley] for her leadership, not criticize for delay,” ABC News analyst Matthew Dowd tweeted. “[I]n age of microwave decision demands, thoughtfulness needs space.”
CNBC’s Larry Kudlow added, “I think [Nikki Haley] is exactly right. Then put Confederate flag in museum. Go see it if you want to see it.”
The Republican governor made the announcement Monday afternoon.
“Today, we are here in a moment of unity in our state, without ill will, to say it is time to move the flag from the Capitol grounds,” Haley said as she was flanked Monday by Republican senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott and Democratic state lawmakers. “My hope is that by removing a symbol that divides us, we can move our state forward in harmony, and we can honor the nine blessed souls who are now in heaven.”
Her announcement was also met with a great deal of derision, however, as many in the press felt that her motion to have the Confederate symbol removed was underserving of praise as it came only after nine African-American were shot and killed in Charleston last week in a racially motivated act of terror.
“Let’s be clear about what just happened. Nikki Haley defended the Confederate flag until it became political suicide to keep up the fight,” Business Insider’s Hunter Walker quipped. “How DARE I criticize Nikki Haley for spending about a decade happily working under the Confederate battle flag.”
Haley and her team in 2013 resisted efforts to have the flag removed from the state capitol.
The Associated Press snuck in the headline: “BREAKING: Confederate flag ‘will always be part of the soil of South Carolina,’ Gov. Nikki Haley says.”
“If South Carolina [Nikki Haley] is going to call for the #ConfederateFlag come down today, you can bet business leaders made that call!” CNN contributor Roland Martin said in an accusatory tweet.
Jamil Smith of the New Republic said, “No cookies for [Nikki Haley] or any other politician now calling for the Confederate flag’s removal. It shouldn’t have taken nine deaths.”
Former senior adviser to Barack Obama and CNN contributor Daniel Pfeiffer contributed his two thoughts, saying, “Governor Haley deserves credit for doing the right thing on the Confederate Flag, but generations will wonder why this was a thing in 2015.”
An alleged white supremacist terrorist, Dylann Storm Roof, shot and killed nine African-American parishioners during a prayer meeting at Charleston’s historic Emanuel AME Wednesday evening. He reportedly sat with them for an hour of prayer before he announced suddenly that he had come to kill them because they were black.
Police later reported that Roof had chosen Emanuel AME due to its significance to African-American history and the role it has played in the civil rights movement.
Not 24 hours after the alleged shooter had carried out his mission, media turned its attention almost immediately to the Confederate battle flag flying outside the state’s capitol building. Reporters and commentators alike were quick to suggest that the flag as a supposedly influential symbol of racial oppression may have played a roll in the Charleston slaughter.
Even after responding to the furor over the flag, though, many in the press appeared unimpressed with the South Carolina governor’s announced efforts.
Referring to Haley’s Indian-American heritage, freelance journalist Mythili Sampathkumar said on Twitter, “it took 9 people dying for her to get here…It’s like she kind of forgot that she’s brown.”
Salon’s Joan Walsh added, “Nikki Haley is looking too pleased with herself [and South Carolina] here. It took the assassination of nine African Americans to do the right thing.”
“Well, [Nikki Haley], it is isn’t all I could have asked for, but it’s something. Thanks for taking a small step in the right direction,” Variety’s David Cohen said.
Following Haley’s press conference Monday, Sens. Scott and Graham signaled their support for her motion to have the Confederate flag removed from the state capitol.
“I hope that, by removing the flag, we can take another step towards healing and recognition — and a sign that South Carolina is moving forward,” Graham said in a statement. Scott, an African-American, said in a separate statement, “I believe it is time for the flag to come down.
The South Carolina lawmaker added that he hopes the “General Assembly will move to this topic swiftly, so that our state can continue to move forward.”
