Killer Mike Says the Confederate Flag ‘Has No Place’ on South Carolina State House

In the week following the tragic and racially charged shooting deaths of nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. many -- including Governor Nikki Haley -- have called for the Confederate flag to be taken down from above the State House in Columbia. Now, Run the Jewels rapper Killer Mike has offered his own thoughts on the matter in an interview with Fader.

“[The Confederate flag] has no place in the building, no place on the building, no place around the building,” Killer Mike said.

He makes a distinction between public and private property, acquiescing that those who choose to privately display the Confederate flag do so as their prerogative, however, he maintains it has no place on public or government grounds such as the South Carolina State House.

“I have no problem with Southerners who consider [the Confederate flag] a part of their heritage, flying it privately in their homes or [wearing it] on their shirts or jackets,” he said. “But I do not think it should ever fly over a state, city, county building or school for the simple reason that it represents secession from the Union. That side lost, and you do not fly the flags of losers over the winners’ country.”

The Run the Jewels rapper goes on to note that the Confederate flag still acts as a symbol of hatred and is used as a tool to “intimidate black people” -- just as it was by Charleston shooter Dylann Roof. Killer Mike adds that its display over the State House acts as a virtual institutionalization of those very ideas that it represents:

Dylann Roof certainly thinks [the Confederate flag] is racial, and there are people who are proponents for it because it's racial... What I care about is an environment where states like South Carolina will allow that flag to fly above their state building and they know that flag is used as a symbol of empowerment for white supremacy. I care that it’s allowed to enforce a sick and perverse mentality by hanging atop a state building that taxpayers pay for.

Killer Mike concludes by calling the Charleston shooting last week a “terroristic act” that is “state sanctioned” with the continued display of the Confederate flag, and that “this minority group should deal with the state in terms of the voting booth.”

Read the entire piece over on Fader.

Of course, Killer Mike almost entered into politics himself. He announced his write-in candidacy for the Georgia legislature two weeks ago only to learn he wasn't eligible to be elected.