On June 28th, 2020, Mississippi lawmakers successfully voted to remove the Confederate emblem from Mississippi’s state flag. The Confederate emblem is a symbol of former slave-owning states in the United States. Mississippi is the last state to feature the Confederate emblem on its flag. Both the state’s House of Representatives and Senate have approved the emblem’s removal, and have approved the formation of a commission to redesign the state flag. The bill will now go to Republican Governor Tate Reeves to sign.
The bill was passed in Mississippi’s House of Representatives with a 91-23 majority vote, and then in Mississippi’s Senate by a majority of 37-14. “Today we and the rest of the nation can look on our state with new eyes, with pride and hope,” said House Speaker Philip Gunn, following the House vote.
Pro tempore Republican Speaker Jason White stated, “By changing our flag, we don’t abandon our founding principles.” He added, “We embrace them more fully by doing what is right. We’re not moving further away from our Founding Fathers’ visions. We’re moving closer to them. We’re not destroying our heritage; we’re fulfilling it.”
Governor Reeves pledged to sign the bill on Saturday in a Facebook and Twitter post. He stated, “The argument over the 1894 flag has become as divisive as the flag itself and it’s time to end it. If they send me a bill this weekend, I will sign it.” His post adds, “We should not be under any illusion that a vote in the Capitol is the end of what must be done — the job before us is to bring the state together and I intend to work night and day to do it. It will be harder than recovering from tornadoes, harder than historic floods, harder than agency corruption, or prison riots or the coming hurricane season — even harder than battling the Coronavirus.” He has not yet set a date for signing.
In 2001, Mississippians similarly held a vote to change the state flag’s design. However, they ultimately kept the existing design, which features the Confederate battle flag in the top left corner. This year’s House-approved legislation requires the current flag to be removed from all government buildings within 15 days. It also requires that a nine-member commission design a new flag without Confederate symbols (and with “In God We Trust”). The commission’s new design will be put to a public vote in November 2020; and if the new design does not pass, the commission must create another design.
This legislation is passed as Confederate monuments and symbols all over the U.S. are being banned, removed and replaced. This is occurring in light of global protests against systemic racism and the various injustices committed against black people. Protests have erupted in every state and every continent, a number of them responding to the death of black Minneapolis resident George Floyd. Since the beginning of these protests, NASCAR has banned the Confederate flag, protesters took down the statue of Confederate General Albert Pike in Washington, D.C., and Richmond’s Confederate Soldiers and Sailors statue has been removed.
As the movement to bring justice to black people continues, the removal of these symbols has been recognized as a key factor in the movement. Government officials have listened and acknowledged that the fight is far from over.
