Conflict continues to fly over SC Statehouse

The Confederate battle flag flying at the soldiers monument on the Statehouse grounds stirs passions nearly a decade after its move there from atop the Statehouse dome, and it remains the focus of a nine-year NAACP economic boycott.

Supporters of the compromise say history cannot be rewritten and the flag deserves to fly as long as the memorial to Confederate soldiers remains. Critics concede the importance of honoring history but say the flag at the Statehouse represents the denigration of a people and does not deserve to be honored.

And so the fight continues, as complex and bitter as ever, fitting for a banner forged in a war just as complicated. But the truth of that war defies assumptions and presents a picture that could bring new understanding to all sides.