This morning, the South Carolina House of Representatives voted to bring down the Confederate flag from the capitol grounds. Raised in the early ’60s as a marked sign of defiance for the merging Civil Rights Movement, this is a moment in time where we witness the shift from the traditional focus of the south towards a more progressive, cultured look towards the future. “South Carolina can remove the stain from our lives,” said 64-year-old Rep. Joe Neal, a democrat initially elected in 1992. “I never thought in my lifetime I would see this.” The bill has formally been signed Governor Nikki Haley—who has previously stated her support of the flag’s removal in the days after the massacre in Charleston—officially removing the flag from the grounds.

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