IN PHOTO: A suspect which police are searching for in connection with the shooting of several people at a church in Charleston, South Carolina is seen in a still image from CCTV footage
IN PHOTO: A suspect which police are searching for in connection with the shooting of several people at a church in Charleston, South Carolina is seen in a still image from CCTV footage released by the Charleston Police Department June 18, 2015. A white gunman was still at large after killing nine people during a prayer service at an historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, the city's police chief said on Thursday, Reuters/Charleston Police Handout

The Charleston church shooting in South Carolina, in the U.S. that killed nine African-Americans, has kicked up fresh a controversy over the flag of the short-lived Confederate States of America. It was the flag of the erstwhile southern states that had seceded during the U.S. Civil War and still has the flag flying in front of the South Carolina Capitol building. Now the flag has come to be dubbed as an "emblem of hate" following the racist comments by the suspected shooter, Dylann Roof, and also because his car was carrying the Confederate flag icon.

Governor Seeks Removal

Latest in the controversy is the demand made by governor of South Carolina, who has called for the removal of the Confederate flag from the state capitol's grounds. Governor Nikki Haley called for the "removal of a symbol that divides us", and wanted the state legislature to act. In its response, the Sons of Confederate Veterans said it would fight all attempts to remove it. The flag was originally the "battle flag" of the southern states in the American Civil War that ended in 1865, and they tried to break away from the union against the abolition of slavery, reports BBC.

Claiming the flag is symbolic of their heritage and history, not hate, the group also offered condolences to the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where the gun attack took place. Governor Haley in a news conference acknowledged the point of view held by many others that the flag was a "deeply offensive symbol of brutal oppression."

Opponents of the flag say it is symbol of slavery and racism, while the proponents see the flag as a symbol of Southern way of life. On Twitter, “Confederate” was trending with lots of Twitterati touching the flag issue after reports came that the suspect in the Charleston shootings was wearing emblems of white supremacy and carroed a Confederate flag on the license plate of his car. President Barack Obama too dismissed it, saying the flag belongs “in a museum.”

Civil rights group, National Association For the Advancement of Colored People, headed by its president Cornell William Brooks was very vocal in calling for the immediate removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Capitol grounds, as an end to the “emblem of hate.” The NAACP had been urging the flag's removal from the Statehouse grounds ever since it was taken down from the top of the Statehouse dome, where the U.S. and state flags are also flown.

In the early 2000s, the flag was moved from the dome to a Confederate soldier monument in front of the building, which many called as a compromise. The NAACP wants the flag removed entirely from the grounds. The Civil War ended in 1865 and marked the end of Confederacy too.

Political Storm

A Republican legislator also announced his plans to introduce a bill to remove the divisive symbol that has inflamed feelings of shame in the wake of the Charleston church shootings. Norman Doug Brannon, a white legislator told MSNBC that he will introduce the bill seeking the flag’s removal as a tribute to his friend Clementa Pinckney, a reverend pastor and state senator, who was among worshippers, gunned down in the church, reports Guardian.

(For feedback/comments, contact the writer at k.kumar@ibtimes.com.au)

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