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

confederate flag
(Image credit: iStock)

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."

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Kimberly Alters

Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.