Last night the South Carolina House voted 93-27 to remove the Confederate flag from the statehouse grounds. The legislation has already been passed by the state Senate, and today Gov. Nikki Haley signed the bill into law.

State Representative Terry Alexander, a member of People For the American Way Foundation’s African American Ministers Leadership Council (AAMLC), was one of the leaders in the South Carolina House in advocating for legislation to take down the flag. Rev. Brendolyn Jenkins-Boseman, national co-chair of AAMLC, released the following statement:

“It’s long overdue that this painful symbol of white supremacy and racial hatred be removed from the South Carolina statehouse.

“We commend Rep. Alexander and his colleagues in the House and Senate for their persistence and leadership in this important campaign. In the wake of a brutal, racist massacre that left nine people dead, including a beloved member of our AAMLC family, the very least we could do as a state to honor their memory is to take down that flag.

“Reverend Alexander has reminded us often that taking down the flag would not be enough. He remains, we remain, committed to continue the difficult but critical work of dismantling the deep-seated racism the flag represents in South Carolina and across the nation."