Damron: We will work together to remove Confederate flag

When a hate crime such as the massacre at Charleston’s Mother Emanuel AME Church occurs in our state, it hits all of us. Our hearts hurt. Our minds try to fathom what could lead to this atrocity. We struggle with our our loss: a great advocate and leader — Sen. Clementa Pinckney; a fellow social worker — the Rev. Daniel Simmons; seven other victims, all African-American, murdered in God’s house, killed because of racial hate.

This act of domestic terrorism did not happen in isolation. The time has come to address the insidious undercurrent of racism that flows too far and too wide. It flows in the actions of the murderer. It flows on bumper stickers, on websites and in social media. In South Carolina, it even flows at our place of government. The time has come for the strongest symbol of that racism — the Confederate flag in front of our state capitol — to be removed.

The S.C. chapter of the National Association of Social Workers is committed to honoring the memory of the lives we lost through our prayers, our thoughts and our actions. We will vehemently support the bill to remove the Confederate flag. Just as we did for the rally on Saturday, in which 1,500 people protested the flag, we will mobilize membership to attend rallies and contact legislators for its removal. We will not stop until this battle is won.

And while the removal of the flag will hold great symbolism, we must not stop there. Our state must tighten its gun laws so that more murders can be prevented. We must pass a hate crime law as a deterrent to acts of violence and terrorism. As social workers, we will continue our fight to protect the vulnerable citizens Sen. Pinckney cared about his entire life.

While we are a state with a troubling history, we are also a state full of good people. We witnessed this at the vigils, prayer meetings, solidarity protests and unity gatherings held throughout South Carolina to honor the victims. We will mourn the loss of Sen. Clementa Pinckney, Rev. Daniel Simmons, Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Rev. Sharonda Singleton and Myra Thompson. Maybe we will find comfort in knowing we will not let these deaths be in vain.

Executive Director, S.C. Chapter

National Association of Social Workers

Columbia

This story was originally published June 22, 2015 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Damron: We will work together to remove Confederate flag."