Sen. Lindsey Graham says the Confederate flag 'works' in South Carolina

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last updated 19 June 2015

After 21-year-old Dylann Roof allegedly killed nine people in a Charleston, South Carolina, church Wednesday night, focus turned to the state's troubled racial history; the incident has been called a hate crime. Meanwhile, the Confederate flag still flies high over statehouse grounds in Columbia, South Carolina, and to make matters worse, while the state and American flags were flown at half-mast to mourn the shooting, the Confederate flag remained at full height above them.

South Carolina senator and Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham downplayed the controversy Friday, saying the flag "is part of who we are" in an interview with CNN. "The flag represents to some people a civil war and that was the symbol of one side," Graham said. "To others, it's a racist symbol."

Graham characterized South Carolina's symbolism as a "compromise," saying that while the Confederate flag flies near the statehouse at a Confederate war memorial, there's an African-American memorial nearby as well. "It works here," the senator said. "The problems we have in South Carolina and throughout the world are not because of a movie or symbols, it's because of what's in people's heart. How do you go back and reconstruct America?" It's a question a lot of people are asking.