By Talbert Toole
Lifestyles Editor
talbert.toole@hottytoddy.com
On Friday, April 26, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced the Mississippi flag will no longer fly in Liberty State Park along with the other state flags.
Flags from each state fly along Freedom Way—located along the park—and have a view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
Murphy announced the removal of the flag via Twitter and said because of the Confederate emblem located on the flag it will be replaced by the American Flag.
“The Confederate symbol does not reflect New Jersey’s values of inclusivity and equality,” Murphy tweeted.
The issue regarding the Confederate symbolism was brought to the governor’s attention by State Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham, according to NJ.com.
Murphy thanked the senator for her leadership and bringing the issue forward.
The Lt. Gov. of New Jersey also applauded the governor and the state senator for taking a stand on the Confederate symbolism.
“There is a difference between acknowledging history versus glorifying it,” Shelia Oliver, Lt. Gov. to Murphy, said on Twitter.
Although the three agreed on the removal of the Mississippi flag’s removal, Gov. Phil Bryant had a different opinion regarding the state’s decision.
“I’m disappointed in Gov. Murphy’s actions. As I have repeatedly said, the voters of Mississippi should decide what the state flag is or is not,” Bryant said in a statement Friday.
The Mississippi flag is the only flag left in the country that embodies a Confederate symbol. The state voted in 2001 whether or not it would keep the flag; the current flag won the vote.
Recently, there has been a grassroots movement by Laurin Stennis to replace the state flag with her design: The Stennis Flag.
Three pieces of legislation to change the current flag to Stennis’ design were recently killed in February; however, Stennis is still determined to move her campaign forward with hopes to change the flag to the red bar, blue starred design.
