Stars barred: confederate flag removed.

• Author: Shackford, Scott
• Position: Citings - Brief article

THE HISTORY of the Confederate flag was placed under a bright, hot spotlight after Dylann Roof allegedly killed nine people, all black, in a shooting spree inside a Charleston, South Carolina, church in June.

Roof's apparent racist motivations drew attention to the fact that the Confederate battle flag still flew on South Carolina's State House grounds and that Confederate flag memorabilia was available for purchase from stores and online vendors. Souti Carolina politicians began debating what to do about the flag. In the meantime, responding to public pressure, such retailers as Walmart and Amazon announced they would stop selling products emblazoned with Confederate symbols.

But as companies started purging the offending products from their marketplaces, some...