In the aftermath of the deadly attack on a group of African-Americans in a South Carolina church by extremist Dylann Roof, politicians and businesses across the U.S. have started turning their backs on the Confederate flag, which is widely seen as a symbol of southern racism and white separationists.

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The debate about the Confederate flag has been active for many years; however following the shooting at the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston last week, it seems the tides of public opinion have come to rest on the elimination of the flag from public display.

 In the beginning of the week, Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina announced her decision to take down the Confederate flag down from the state house. Many individuals and organizations have since voiced support for her decision.

On Wednesday, Gov. Robert Bentley of Alabama also ordered the confederate flag to be removed from the state Capital building, according to AL.com. "This is the right thing to do," he told reporters.

Besides taking down the confederate flag from poles, commentators are also calling for the removal of the flag from license plates. At least nine U.S. States have the confederate flag on their license plates. Thus far, the governors of Virginia and North Carolina have revealed that they plan to remove the flag from license plates issued by their states.

Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia has announced that he plans to have the state's license plate redesigned in order for the confederate flag to be removed. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has also revealed that he doesn't support the fact that the Confederate flag is on his state's license plates. However, at this point it is unclear if either him or Gov. Haley will take any steps to have the flag removed from their state-issued license plates.

While lawmakers across southern parts of the U.S. debate on whether to eliminate the confederate flag from public grounds and license plates, residents of Mississippi - the only state that features the confederate flag in its official flag - have started a petition to have the state's flag redesigned and the Dixie flag removed from it. CNN quotes Phillip Gunn, the state's Republican House Speaker, explaining that the Confederate flag in the left corner of his state's flag is "a point of offense that needs to be removed."

Meanwhile, since Tuesday, several top retailers have been removing the Confederate flags from their outlets. Sears, Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Etsy and Target have all revealed plans to remove the Confederate flag from their outlets and stop selling items branded with the flag, according to Huffington Post. On Wednesday, Alibaba also announced that it will remove the Confederate flag and all products designed with it from their shelves. Alibaba spokeswoman Rachel Chan explained to Reuters that the company "prohibits listings of materials that are ethnically or racially offensive across its platforms."

TagsConfederate flag, Dylann Roof, U.S., Confederate Flag Debate