This morning, Friday, July 10, the Confederate flag that swayed in front of South Carolina’s Statehouse is there no more. Thousands gathered to watch Highway Patrol honor guards remove the symbol that represents racism and southern pride. As the crowd watched, there were mixed emotions.

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Prior to the flag’s removal, you could hear most of the crowd yelling, “take it down.” Others had miniature flags of their own flying in the wind.

“It feels so good to be out here and be happy about it,” said Ronald D. Barton, 52, a pastor who also was at the ceremony in 2000, when the flag was moved from its place flying atop the Capitol dome to its current flagpole.

After 54 years, where is the flag going now?

After the flag’s removal, a special van used to transport historical artifacts will take it to the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, about a mile away. There, it eventually will be housed in a multimillion-dollar shrine lawmakers promised to build as part of a compromise to get the bill ordering the flag’s removal through the House.

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Removal of the flag became a topic of interest after Dylaan Roof, a supporter of the flag’s symbolism, entered the Emanuel AME Church where he shot and killed nine of its members – Roof has recently been indicted on three additional charges. Following, activist, Bree Newsome climbed the flagpole in front of the SC Statehouse to remove it.

“I felt very strongly we needed that moment. We needed that moment to say, enough is enough. We want an end to the hate,” Bree explained her reasoning for taking the flag down.

Bree’s attempt sparked a 37 to 3 vote to remove the flag, and here we are today.

SOURCE: ABC News