The South Carolina NAACP will again march in Columbia Jan. 16 to commemorate slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, plus other topics, including the Confederate battle flag.

In July 2000, the flag was moved from atop the Statehouse dome and positioned on the Capitol's grounds, but for Dwight C. James, executive director of the state NAACP, the move was not enough.

"In our opinion, that represents a sovereign display when people come by and see it waving in front of the state Capitol and view it as some official representation of South Carolina," James said.

James said he's equally concerned with what he calls the "Confederate mindset." He said he's discouraged by the type of thinking that allows racial disparities to stay alive in education, health care, the economy and the criminal justice system, all topics that will be addressed.

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James points out that more than 70 percent of the state's inmate population is black, while less than one-third of the state's population is black.

The NAACP is reaching out to young people to have them learn about the organization's history and join the King Day rally, James said. Young people are being encouraged to bring a friend and board a bus headed for the march, he said.

James said he'd like King Day to be a forum to complete some unfinished business.

"The flag should be placed with other relics of that period," he said. "It's a part of South Carolina's history, but it shouldn't be a part of its future."