Confederate flag debate reaches Congress
Source: Reuters
Politics | Thu Jun 25, 2015 4:11pm EDT
Confederate flag debate reaches Congress
WASHINGTON
A growing backlash in Southern states against flying the Confederate battle flag spread to the U.S. Congress on Thursday when Democratic lawmakers aimed to remove the banner from parts of the Capitol, but it quickly ran into opposition in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi sought House approval of a resolution requiring the removal of state flags containing any portion of the Civil-War era Confederate battle flag from the House side of the U.S. Capitol.
The flag is a source of pride for many in the South and a remembrance of its soldiers killed 150 years ago but others see it as a symbol of oppression and of a dark chapter when 11 rebelling Confederate states fought to keep blacks enslaved.
[font size=1]
-snip-[/font]
Read more:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/25/us-usa-shooting-south-carolina-congress-idUSKBN0P52KC20150625