Reminder: The Confederate flag still flies on the statehouse grounds in Columbia, South Carolina

Now that law enforcement authorities have Charleston church shooting suspect Dylann Roof, 21, in custody, the broader context of what has been called a vicious hate crime is beginning to be examined, starting with South Carolina's troubled racial history.

The immediate focus has been on a potent symbol of the state's controversial past: the Confederate flag, which continues to fly on the statehouse grounds in Columbia. While some are calling for the flag to be flown at half staff to commemorate the victims, others say it should be taken down altogether, since it represents a cultural allegiance to the slave-holding South of the antebellum era.

The flag used to fly atop the statehouse dome, but was moved to the grounds following protests in the late 1990s. In 2014, Vincent Sheheen, the Democratic candidate in the state's gubernatorial race, said he would take the flag off the grounds as well. Republican Gov. Nikki Haley easily won re-election by about 15 percentage points.

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