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S.C. HOUSE REFUSES TO REMOVE CONFEDERATE FLAG ON CAPITOL

SHARE S.C. HOUSE REFUSES TO REMOVE CONFEDERATE FLAG ON CAPITOL

The South Carolina House has refused to remove the Confederate battle flag from atop the Statehouse dome, spurning Gov. David Beasley's call to transfer the banner to a nearby monument.

The Republican-led House voted 72-45 Thursday to defeat Beasley's proposal, instead sending the issue to a special statewide election in November.The Legislature raised the flag in 1962 to honor the Civil War's centennial and then never took it down. Critics say it is racially divisive and a symbol of slavery; supporters say it honors Civil War dead.