Mississippi Lawmakers Have Divided Opinions on Removing Confederate Emblem from State Flag

Mississippi state flag

The recent shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina has sparked a public outcry against the Confederate flag, prompting lawmakers across the country to consider removing Confederate symbols from public presence.

While the states of Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and Tennessee favor removing the Confederate flag symbol from specialty state license plates, Mississippi lawmakers are grappling with whether or not to redesign the Mississippi state flag, which prominently features the Confederate bars in the top left corner.

Several top-tier Mississippi lawmakers are in favor changing the flag while others support the decision of Mississippi voters to keep the current flag design. Mississippi voted 65 percent to 35 percent to keep the Confederate emblem on the flag in a special election in 2001.

“Our state flag increasingly portrays a false impression of our state to others,” said U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss. “After reflection and prayer, I now believe our flag should be put in a museum and replaced by one that is more unifying to all Mississippians.”

House Speaker Philip Gunn released a statement Tuesday saying it was time for Mississippians to have a conversation about the state’s flag. “We must always remember our past, but that does not mean we must let it define us,” he said. “As a Christian, I believe our state’s flag has become a point of offense that needs to be removed.”

In contrast, Senator Chris McDaniels, R-Miss., elects to respect the decision of the 2001 vote. “We must examine our hearts and not resort to placing emotional blame for problems we face on symbols such as a flag,” he said. “The people of Mississippi have already decided this issue, by referendum. I will respect their wishes.”

McDaniels went on to say that he disagrees with “those who use political correctness to silence differing viewpoints”, and it is in “poor taste to use the tragic South Carolina massacre to promote a political agenda.”

Governor Phil Bryant stated yesterday that he supported the decision of the 2001 vote, however, issued the following statement on his official website. “I call on every Mississippian, no matter what our race or region or party, to rise above our petty differences and build together the Mississippi our citizens deserve. Let us go forward from this time and place, unafraid to make the bold changes that will help us rise together.”

Lt. Governor Tate Reeves also supports the decision of the 2001 vote. “Flags and emblems are chosen by a group of people as a symbol of all that unites and ties the group together. The good and bad in our shared history, and all that we have learned from it, is something that ties us together,” he said in a release of a personal statement. “The same discussion South Carolinians are having now is the one that Mississippians had 14 years ago when nearly two-thirds of our state voted to keep our current flag. If the citizens of our state want to revisit the decision, and I am sure at some point we may, it will best be decided by the people of Mississippi, not by outsiders or media elites or politicians in a back room.”

Beth Harmon is managing editor for HottyToddy.com. Email her at beth.harmon@hottytoddy.com.