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Washington: The Confederate flag will be removed from the grounds of the South Carolina state house less than a month after a white racist allegedly murdered nine African-Americans - including a state senator - in a Bible class in the hope of provoking a race war.
The vote to remove the flag came on Thursday morning in the state capital, Columbia, after 15 hours of debate. It included a tearful plea from a white Republican politician who is a descendant of Confederate leader Jefferson Davis. The flag's removal was approved 94 to 20.
Shortly after 4pm local time Governor Nikki Haley spoke on the state house floor, saying that South Carolina was following the example of the dead – who had invited the gunman into their church to pray, and their families, who had forgiven him.
As family members watched on she signed the bill into law using nine pens, which were to be presented to the families.
The flag will be removed from the grounds at 10am on Friday.
"South Carolina can remove the stain from our lives," said Representative Joe Neal, a 64-year-old black Democrat. "I never thought in my lifetime I would see this."
The flag, which many opponents liken to the swastika, was not raised above the South Carolina state house until 1962, when the southern states were in revolt against federally enforced desegregation.
After an earlier debate it was removed from the dome of the capitol building in 2000 and moved to a Confederate war memorial, where it remained flying at full mast after last month's murders even while other official flags were lowered to half.
The flag has long been the focus of controversy across the South, where its defenders view it as symbol of their heritage rather than of slavery and oppression.
During the debate some representatives tried to stall the process by moving amendments, one which would have seen a similar flag raised in the battle flag's place.
At a crucial point the Republican representative of Charleston, Jenny Anderson Horne, a descendant of the Confederate leader Jefferson Davis, wept as she called for the flag to be immediately removed.
"I cannot believe that we do not have the heart in this body to do something meaningful — such as take a symbol of hate off these grounds on Friday — and if any of you vote to amend, you are ensuring that this flag will fly beyond Friday. And for the widow of Senator [Clementa] Pinckney and his two young daughters, that would be adding insult to injury — and I will not be a part of it," she said.
"And for all of these reasons, I will not vote to amend this bill today. We may visit this another session, another year. But if we amend this bill, we are telling the people of Charleston: We don't care about you. We do not care that someone used this symbol of hate to slay [nine] innocent people who were worshiping their God."
She concluded by saying, "We need to follow the example of the Senate: Remove this flag — and do it today, because this issue is not getting any better with age."
She left the dais to an ovation and hugs from colleagues.
Many Americans have been shocked at how quickly the Confederate battle flag has been abandoned since the shooting.
Within days, Governor Haley, who in the past has supported the flag's presence on the memorial, spoke out against it.
In his eulogy to Senator Pinckney, the pastor of Mother Emmanuel, President Barack Obama addressed the flag directly for the first time.
"It's true a flag did not cause these murders. But as people from all walks of life, Republicans and Democrats, now acknowledge, including Governor Haley, whose recent eloquence on the subject is worthy of praise as we all have to acknowledge, the flag has always represented more than just ancestral pride," he said.
"For many, black and white, that flag was a reminder of systemic oppression and racial subjugation. We see that now," he said.
Since then major retailers, both bricks-and-mortar and online, have pulled memorabilia bearing a likeness of the flag from sale and many public institutions are removing the flag.
The debate has stirred significant anger, with politicians on both sides of the debate in South Carolina reported to have received death threats.
Next week the Ku Klux Klan is planning a rally in defence of the flag at the state house.
