i remember my senior year in south carolina in 1990, senator patternson came and gave inspiring wordsrt of his mission to us was to eradicate racism, and he mentioned trying to remove the confederate battle flag from at top the state house. but also i'm reminded of those nine lives tragically lost and that they didn't live to see this moment. >> this is really the culmination of a more than decade's long struggle to get the flag taken off of the grounds of the south carolina state house. why has it been such a devisive issue in that state? >> you know, i think because there is a history, a tradition of half truths that have been told around the flag. so the kind of mantra of those who believe the confederate flag is one of southern heritage a way of life has left out of the voices of other south carolinians. so i always use myself as an example in these kinds of conversations. my family has ties to south carolina when it was a colony even been it was a state, my ancestors were brought there in the 18th century, they were not consulted about the flag and their voices have been left out