Bentley orders removal of Confederate flags

Gov. Robert Bentley quietly ordered the removal of four Confederate flags from a memorial at the Alabama Capitol on Wednesday amid a growing national controversy over their official display.

The flags -- three national banners used by the Confederacy and the battle flag most closely connected to it -- had been removed by 10 a.m. Bentley, who had maintained silence on the issue for days, did not announce the decision prior to the flags being furled.

"The governor does not want the flag to be a distraction," said Jennifer Ardis, a spokeswoman for the governor. "There are a lot of other things we are focused on. We have a tremendous budget issue."

A Confederate flag will also be removed from the Old House Chamber in the state Capitol, used for the State of the State address and ceremonial bill signings.

"It became obvious that the presence of the flag in that historic chamber would become a distraction during the upcoming special session, possibly lead to protracted debate, and avert our attention from the special session's main goal," House Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, said in a statement. "By taking the proactive action of removing the flag, the Legislature can move forward in several different ways."

Official displays of the Confederate flag have been called into question since nine people, all black, were killed in Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., last week. Online photos of the accused shooter, who is white, show him wearing or posing with symbols of white supremacy, including the Confederate battle flag.

The flags had flown at the Alabama Confederate Monument since 1994, a year after then-Gov. Jim Folsom Jr. ordered the removal of a battle flag that had flown over the state Capitol since 1963. A judge had earlier ruled in a lawsuit brought by black legislators that only the U.S. flag and the state flag could fly there.

The 88-foot-tall structure, dedicated in 1898, commemorates the Alabamians who fought for the Confederacy. According to the Alabama Department of Archives and History, up to 100,000 Alabamians took up arms for the Confederacy. Roughly 13,000 Alabamians fought for the Union, including 10,000 blacks.

The moves were generally welcomed by Alabama officials.

"The Confederate flag represents the fight for slavery and is a symbol of hate, not heritage," U.S. Rep. Teri Sewell, D-Birmingham, said in a statement. "Our state government should not sanction bigotry but promote unity and respect for the rights of all Alabamians."

U.S. Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, was also supportive, saying she "didn't know why" the flags were put on the grounds after being removed from the state Capitol.

"This flag was not just used as a battle flag in the Civil War, but as a symbol of division and bitterness more than a century after," Roby said in a statement. "Displaying the Confederate battle flag in museums to acknowledge our past and teach lessons about it is appropriate; flying it at our state Capitol is not."

Black legislators applauded the moves. Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, who planned to introduce a resolution in the special session to have the flags removed, said Wednesday the governor had shown courage. Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery, chair of the Alabama House Black Caucus sent Bentley a letter Wednesday praising the governor's "bold action."

"We believe the removal of the flags was an important step in the long process that remains to end the deeply rooted racial division in our state," Knight wrote.

Senate Minority Leader Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery, said he hoped furling the flag would show that the state had "grown beyond what its past history is."

"We understand history has its place, but as we move forward being aUnited States, a united Alabama with all citizens recognized, I think we have to have the sensitivity to understand we don't want to be intentionally offensive," he said.

Will Califf, a spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston, said Wednesday the Senate leader would have no comment.

Richard Cohen, president of the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center, said Wednesday Bentley's decision was "a step in the right direction."

"In today's political climate, (the flags) sent a message of divisiveness," he said. "I think some might argue they weren't put upinreverentialfashion, they were put up in a historical way. But I think the more prudent thing to do is what the governor did."

Cohen called for the state to drop holidays celebrating Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

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Gary Carlyle,commanderof the Alabama Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said Wednesday he believed Bentley had "overreacted," but declined further comment.

"I think we should be praying and working for those families of the nine citizens that are having funerals today and this week," he said.

A handful of protestors appeared at the monument Wednesday. MikeWIlliams,adjutantof the Sons of Confederate Veterans, carrying the Confederate flag with him, said "you must change hearts, not flags" to end racism.

"I firmly believe that the more you push one group and its heritage, the more they're gong to push back," he said. "So how does that solve racism?

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Monday called for the removal of the Confederate flag from a soldiers' memorial on the grounds of that state's Capitol. Removal will require a two-thirds vote of the South Carolina Legislature. Mississippi legislators are debating whether to remove the symbol from the Magnolia State's flag.

Washington correspondent Mary Orndorff Troyan and Advertiser photographer Mickey Welsh contributed to this report.