“It came down to one simple thing,” Ms. Haley said in a phone interview Tuesday. “I couldn’t look my son or daughter in the face and justify that flag flying anymore.”…

Ms. Haley said her decision to take a stand on the flag was an “emotional” one that she hoped would help heal her state. She spoke of her pride in the way South Carolinians have rallied across the racial divide.

She acknowledged the hurtful racial attacks that have been lobbed at her over the years, but insisted that her career was proof that race relations in this Southern state were, in fact, improving.

“The South Carolina I am privileged to lead today is not the South Carolina I grew up in,” she said. “It has continued to change and it has continued to evolve. It is the people who have done that.”