Hillary Clinton Calls Charleston Killings ‘Racist Terrorism’: Demands Removal Of Confederate Flag

The U.S. Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has called the Charleston church massacre as an act of "racist terrorism" and called for the immediate removal of Confederate flag from the state capitol grounds. Clinton was speaking at a church in Florissant, Missouri, on Tuesday, where she said Americans were struggling to come to grips with the killing of 9 African Americans at Emanuel Methodist Church by a suspected white enthusiast.

Clinton said, "That night, word of the killings struck like a blow to the soul. How do we make sense of such an evil act - an act of racist terrorism perpetrated in a house of God?" She said the killings are indication of entrenched racism in the United States.

The Democrat leader said it is hard to dismiss a tragedy like this as an isolated incident and believe that in today's America bigotry is “largely behind us.” She regretted that despite best efforts America's struggle with race is far from over. Clinton was at Christ the King United Church, near Ferguson, Missouri, where riots had broke out after a black teenager Michael Brown was shot dead by a white police officer in August 2014.

Black President

A couple of days ago, Clinton, while addressing a US Conference of Mayors in San Francisco called for introspection by all. Clinton said news reports about poverty and crime and discrimination evoke sympathy but do “they spur us to action or prompt us to question our own assumptions and privilege.” She said many hoped electing the first black president had turned the page on this chapter in American history. “I know there are truths we don't like to say out loud. But we have to - that's the only way we can possibly move forward together."

Listing the disadvantages African-Americans, Clinton said black borrowers are often denied a mortgage; the median wealth of black families is only a small fraction of white families; black men are routinely stopped and searched by police and black offenders get harsh sentences.

Phone Diplomacy

Meanwhile, South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham had a pleasant surprise when he picked up the phone to hear the voice of Hillary Clinton. The Democratic presidential candidate told the Republican hopeful that she was reaching out to extend her condolences on the tragedy in his home state.

"Clinton said she was calling to see how I was doing, and wanted to let me know that she was thinking about me and about everyone in South Carolina," Graham told CNN, recounting the telephone conversation. He said he was "pleasantly surprised" to get the call because he knows how busy Clinton is.

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