Lawmakers in one southern town voted on Tuesday to remove the Confederate flag from its official seal, while those in another opted to do the opposite, bringing the controversial emblem back to its government buildings.
The Mobile, Alabama, city council voted to remove the Confederate national flag and four other historic flags from the official seal of city government, leaving only the US flag in their place.
In Florida, however, the Marion county commission voted unanimously to again fly the Confederate flag in front of a government building, weeks after it had been taken down.
The interim county administrator in Marion county had removed the flag at the McPherson Governmental Complex in Ocala after the 17 June killing of nine black people at a Charleston, South Carolina, church. A white man who appeared in photos waving Confederate flags is charged.
The Ocala Star-Banner reports that several citizens spoke in favor of restoring the flag, which was flying again within minutes of the vote.
“The fact remains it is part of our common and shared history,” John Horrigh told a local television station as he watched the flag being raised. “History is not always pretty, but it remains as our history. It’s back where it should be.”
State representative Dennis Baxley told a Florida television station: “We are all exposed to messages and symbols that may not connect for us, but we should all honor our ancestors and protect free expression.”
Communities across the US have taken down or reconsidered Confederate symbols in the wake of the Charleston church shooting. On Monday South Carolina lawmakers took the first of several steps needed to remove the Confederate flag from its capitol in Columbia, with the state senate voting 37-3 in favor of taking it down.
The state house of representatives is scheduled to begin debate on Wednesday on the bill to take down the flag and its pole and send the banner to the state’s Confederate relic room. Governor Nikki Haley and business leaders support the proposal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
