NAACP ends its 15-year boycott of South Carolina after the state takes down Confederate flag from capitol grounds
- The civil rights group approved the emergency resolution on Saturday at its national convention in Philadelphia
- The boycott began in 2000 during debate over the flying of the Confederate flag atop South Carolina's Statehouse dome
- The boycott of tourism and other economic activity was lifted just a day after South Carolina officials took down the flag from Statehouse grounds
- NAACP President Cornell William Brooks applauded South Carolina's decision to remove the flag earlier this week
The NAACP has passed a resolution lifting its 15-year economic boycott of South Carolina, a day after the state took down a Confederate battle flag flying near its Statehouse.
The civil rights group approved the measure Saturday at its national convention in Philadelphia to end the boycott of tourism and other economic activity.
The boycott began in 2000 during debate over the flying of the Confederate flag atop South Carolina's Statehouse dome. It continued after the flag was moved to a pole on Statehouse grounds.
The flag's removal comes weeks after the shooting deaths of nine people in a historically black church in Charleston.
Scroll down for video
The NAACP announced on Saturday that an emergency reslution ended the organization's 15-year boycott of South Carolina
The boycott began in 2000 during debate over the flying of the Confederate flag atop South Carolina's Statehouse dome
An honor guard of state troopers lowered the Confederate battle flag from a pole on Saturday and took it to a museum where it will be displayed alongside other Confederate relics. The pole on which it had flown also was removed.
Relatives of the nine people killed during the Bible study at a black church - police said the suspect Dylann Roof, 21, was motivated by racial hatred - had front-row seats for the historic moment.
Roof, appeared in photographs posing with a Confederate flag that surfaced on a website bearing a racist manifesto.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley supported the flag before the shooting, but the Republican had a change of heart in the days after the killings, urging legislators to pass a bill before the end of the summer. She signed the legislation Thursday.
Flag supporters remain, saying it symbolizes Southern heritage.
South Carolina's leaders first flew the battle flag over the Statehouse dome in 1961 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Civil War.
The Confederate flag was removed from the Statehouse grounds on Friday, ending its 54-year presence there
Thousands watched on the grounds, and millions more on television, as the flag was removed and taken to a museum to sit alongside other Confederate relics
Relieved: South Caronlia Gov Nikki Haley, pictured here holding hands with numerous civil rights figures as the flag came down, urged legislators to pass a bill for its removal before the end of the summer
It remained there to represent official opposition to the civil rights movement.
NAACP President Cornell William Brooks applauded South Carolina's decision to remove the flag earlier this week.
He said the decision 'will make South Carolina more welcoming and affirming of all people irrespective of their skin color,' according to Huffington Post.
He added: 'The NAACP applauds the South Carolina legislature for voting to remove the Confederate Battle flag - one of the longest standing symbols of hatred and exclusion - from public spaces and state grounds today.
'This legislative decision affirms the 15 years of collective advocacy of the NAACP on both the national and state level to bring down the flag, in particular our 15 year economic boycott of the state that was joined by the NCAA and UAW.'
- Blue Angels fly by sends tents & umbrellas flying into air
- Watch me! NFL player's toddler son dances to favorite song
- Mexico's Attorney Genral tours site of Guzman escape
- Planned Parenthood director admits to selling fetus body...
- White House wants escaped Mexican kingpin to face justice
- How to speak Aussie : Abbreviate Everything
- Mexico offers $3.8m reward for capture of kingpin 'El Chapo'
- Post workout footage shows intense rippling calf cramp
- 'It looks bad, Bill': Whoopi Goldberg changes her tune on...
- 'El Chapo' Guzman taken into Altiplano prison back in 2014
- Travel 15,000 feet into the air in just 45 seconds
- Serena Williams is finally getting her eyebrows shaped!
- 'I'm going to make you eat your words': Mexico's...
- El Chapo’s ride to freedom: First pictures of ‘motorbike on...
- Escape on foot because roads will liquefy and start running...
- Knifeman shouting 'Allah is great' forces tourist to her...
- Planned Parenthood's top doctor caught on undercover video...
- Former porn star Jenna Jameson sues her MMA fighter...
- 'He should have at least informed us as his family': Obama's...
- Whoopi Goldberg finally changes her stance on Bill Cosby...
- Adorable moment baby son of San Francisco 49ers player leaps...
- EXCLUSIVE: White House hopeful Carly Fiorina's claims of...
- 'Iran have been given a licence to kill': Netanyahu blasts...
- Struggling to live in America's $1M city: Photographer...