Headlines
Mississippi Makes Headlines in Confederate Flag Issues
The government bodies from federal to local have taken steps to remove Confederate flags from the public space in wake of the Charleston, South Carolina shooting.
This week the federal House of Representatives has debated on its vote on an added proposal by Representative Jared Huffman (D-California) within measure funding of the National Park Service to prohibit display of Confederate flags at federal cemeteries. Representative Steve Palazzo (R-Mississippi) called for a revote on the measure.
Associated Press reports Palazzo’s statement: “I strongly oppose the inclusion of this amendment, which was slipped into the bill in the dead of the night with no debate. Congress cannot simply rewrite history and strip the Confederate flag from existence. Members of Congress from New York and California cannot wipe away 150 years of Southern history with a sleight-of-hand tactics.”
The Vicksburg National Military Park is included in this measure, but the park only has two Confederate soldiers aside from the 17,000 Union soldiers buried there. Those two Confederate soldiers, Private Reuben White from 19th Texas Infantry Regiment and Sergeant Charles B. Brantley from 12th Arkansas Sharpshooters Battalion, were mistakenly buried in section B of the cemetery in 1860s, according to its website.
Its website states: “Confederate dead from the Vicksburg campaign originally buried behind Confederate lines, have now been re-interred in the Vicksburg City Cemetery (Cedar Hill Cemetery), in an area called “Soldiers’ Rest.” Approximately 5,000 Confederates have been re-interred there, of which 1,600 are identified.”
Meanwhile, Representative Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) has pushed the House Administration Committee to remove all images of the Confederate battle flag from House office buildings and chamber in Washington D.C. since June 23.
Yesterday, he issued a statement on his site regarding a letter he sent to Chairwoman Candice Miller and ranking member Robert Brady of the House Administration Committee on the presence of Confederate imagery in Washington D.C.
Thompson said, “Today, I sent a letter to Chairwoman Candice Miller and Ranking Member Robert Brady of the Committee on House Administration urging them both to take swift action on the privileged resolution that I introduced to take down symbols of the confederate battle flag including the imagery in the Mississippi state flag.”
“After my resolution was voted into the Committee on House Administration before the most recent recess, my Republican colleagues hoped that the issue would just fade away but I am calling for immediate hearings and/or committee action on the resolution. In my letter to the committee, I encouraged my colleagues to follow up on the nice things they said on the House floor during the debate and take real action,” he said in the statement.
Nancy Peilosi, former speaker of the House of Representatives and current minority leader of the House of Representatives, wrote a resolution to remove any Confederate battle flag symbolism from the U.S. capitol.
Her resolution reads: “That the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall remove any State flag containing any portion of the Confederate battle flag, other than a flag displayed by the office of a Member of the House, from any area within the House wing of the Capitol or any House office building, and shall donate any such flag to the Library of Congress.”
This resolution affects the presence of the Mississippi state flag in the U.S. Capitol.
Some governmental bodies in Mississippi have also taken such actions. Last Thursday, Bill Luckett, mayor of Clarksdale, removed the state flag from the city hall.
Luckett said, “I think it’s hight time we did it. It’s an offensive symbol and I don’t believe in offending people.”
He worked in conjunction with Morgan Freeman when the previous flag vote came about. He said voters were very apprehensive about the flag then, and they’re very apprehensive about the flag now.
“Removing the flag [from City Hall] is the right thing to do. This decision ties in with Dan Jones’ decision to remove the offensive symbols from the university. I was proud of the administration’s bold move to go through with that, and I had that in mind when we decided to remove the flag [from City Hall]” he said.
Hattiesburg already conducted similiar actions on June 26, when its mayor, Johnny Dupree, ordered the removal of the state flag from any city-owned buildings.
Oxford’s mayor, George “Pat” Patterson, wrote an open letter last month in favor of changing the state flag.
Both Mississippian U.S. Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker have stated their desire to change the state flag’s design, but Governor Phil Bryant said he respects the voters’ decision on the flag design in the 2001 election but that the issue can be revisited again by the voters.
Correction: Nancy Peilosi’s job position was corrected.
Callie Daniels Bryant is the senior managing editor of HottyToddy.com. She can be reached at callie.daniels@hottytoddy.com.
| Sat, Aug 31 |  | vs Furman | W, 76-0 |
| Sat, Sep 7 |  | vs Middle Tennessee | W, 52-3 |
| Sat, Sep 14 |  | @ Wake Forest | W, 40-6 |
| Sat, Sep 21 |  | vs Georgia Southern | W, 52-13 |
| Sat, Sep 28 |  | vs Kentucky | L, 20-17 |
| Sat, Oct 5 |  | @ South Carolina | W, 27-3 |
| Sat, Oct 12 |  | vs LSU | L, 29-26 (2 OT) |
| Sat, Oct 26 |  | vs Oklahoma | W, 26-14 |
| Sat, Nov 2 |  | @ Arkansas | W, 63-35 |
| Sat, Nov 16 |  | vs Georgia | W, 28-10 |
| Sat, Nov 23 |  | @ Florida | L, 24-17 |
| Sat, Nov 30 |  | vs Mississippi State | 2:30 PM ABC |
Randy Craig
July 9, 2015 at 5:53 pm
Let the people decide, put it to a vote. I DO NOT WANT THE POLITICIANS TO SPEAK FOR ME !
Mary bishop
July 9, 2015 at 6:20 pm
U can not change history
James Knox
July 9, 2015 at 6:20 pm
Let the people decide on our Mississipi flag and Comfederate flags in National and State Parks as they already did vote in favor thereof and should be respected. Jim And Janine Knox
Ray Cochran
July 9, 2015 at 6:28 pm
The voters have already spoken, now move on to things that are really imporant! No flag or gun has ever killed anyone, it’s bad people that do!
Sheila Phifer
July 9, 2015 at 6:50 pm
I think the democrat from Miss. should be looking for other employment! The people voted on the Miss flag and we said keep it! Flags are just fabric, you can’t change history! Leave it alone and lets feed the poor , and put clothes on people and be stewards of this great land and state! Move on people are always offended….I am offended by their moves to remove our Flag!!!
Anonymous
July 9, 2015 at 8:02 pm
Stand STRONG my Southern Country Men!!
Don’t let your politicians cower like the weasels
in South Carolina, We voted too, and now the flood gates are opening up. I am painfully sorry to all 9 victims of Charleston and their families and Mother Emanuel . But erasing history and hiding that flag will not improve the racial stranglehold this country is in.
Melissa Howze
July 9, 2015 at 8:56 pm
Shaking my head. Leave history be. I’m a proud Mississippian living in Texas. But let me tell you what My Southern heritage is being taken away when you take that flag away. Leave it be.
Melanie Holland
July 9, 2015 at 9:20 pm
This is absolutely absurd! You say you don’t want to offend anyone. HOW can you even say that with a straight face? The flag didn’t kill anyone in South Carolina or anywhere else for that matter, and you taking it down to not offend some people while you offend others by even considering taking it down. You are liars, and you disgust me! I’m not a racist, but I will fly that flag till the coming of Christ or my death. You throw in a piece of legislation on the dead of night, and you use racial devide, and hate as your motive. I hope you ignorant, cowardly, disgraceful, incompetent, morons know by now you have done nothing but put everyone with opposing opinions against each other. You want a race war. You want militant actions so you can impose martial law. We’ll I’m telling you as my parents told me ” be careful what you wish for. You just might get it”! No truer words were ever spoken. You have wished to devide a country, and you’ve got it! I oppose the removal of the Confederate flag, and you have dammed sure offended, me and thousands more, if not millions more. What happened to democracy, and majority rule. I’m ashamed of all of you!!
For every politician that had any oat in this you lost the vote of many you will someday need. You might not have burned a flag, but you burned thousands of bridges you will never cross again!!!
Melanie Holland
July 9, 2015 at 9:22 pm
FURIOUS! !!!
Sheila Ryan
July 9, 2015 at 9:46 pm
We’ve voted on this and the people spoke loud and clear. Leave our flag alone. Not one soul alive today has been a slave or been a slave owner.
Nita McVeigh
July 9, 2015 at 10:29 pm
STUPID! This is what is so wrong with America! Politician are such a screwed up out of touch destructive force in this country we should vote them all out! Every last one of them.
Anonymous
July 10, 2015 at 12:06 am
SHAME ON YOU MISSISSIPPI REPUBLICANS, THAT IS THE DEMOCRATS FLAG AND YOU’RE STILL FLYING IT LIKE A BUNCH OF UNEDUCATED PEOPLE!
ken
July 10, 2015 at 12:48 am
What can we do about this?
Anonymous
July 10, 2015 at 3:08 am
No you can’t change history but you can change the future. It is high time to quit waving the confederate battle flag everybody in the world knows it stands for racism and oppression Mississippi is only trying to fool themselves.
Tom Barnes
July 10, 2015 at 8:40 am
The vote was in 2001. This is 2015. Times have changed. Why is YOUR history so important that it must be venerated into the state flag at the expense of the history of others? Leaving the battle flag canton in the state flag sends a clear message to the rest of the world that Mississippi hasn’t changed and doesn’t want to change. How is Mississippi going to grow with this outdated and offensive symbol incorporated into its flag? Lee himself said that the flag should be furled and put away.
Anonymous
July 10, 2015 at 9:11 am
We certainly can change the flag, but we can’t change a person’s heart. If a person has been taught in the home to hate a certain person or race, then that hatred is instilled in their heart. I’m so glad that I was taught to LOVE everybody! When individuals finally realize that the color of your skin isn’t going to get you into Heaven then this world will be a better place to live in!
Anonymous
July 10, 2015 at 10:16 am
THIS IS THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING I HAVE EVER SEEN AND HEARD OF!!!! ALL YOU POLITICIANS ARE ABSOLUTELY CRAZY TO BUCKLE AND GIVE INTO A MINORITY. WHAT’S THE DEAL? ARE YOU BEING THREATENED BY OUR ADMIN WHO SITS IN THE BIG CHAIR IF YOU DON’T GO ALONG WITH HIM? WELL! YOU ALL HAVE OFFENDED ALMOST EVERY AMERICAN IN THE USA! WHY NOT IF ANYTHING CHANGE THE HISTORY BOOKS TO REFLECT THE TRUTH ABOUT SLAVERY AND THAT IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DAMNED WAR! IF THEY KNEW THE TRUTH THEY MIGHT HATE THEIR HOMELAND INSTEAD OF THE WHITES HERE IN THE USA! THEIR OWN PEOPLE SOLD THEM INTO SLAVERY! ALL AMERICANS DID WAS TAKE THEM IN FROM THE SPANIARDS AND HOUSED, CLOTHED, AND FED THEM ALL FOR A GOOD DAYS WORK! MANY OF THEM BECAME LIKE FAMILY MEMBERS TO ONE ANOTHER AND ALTHOUGH THERE WERE A FEW BAD MEN BACK IN THOSE DAYS, THE MAJORITY OF SLAVE OWNERS TOOK GOOD CARE OF THEIR INVESTMENTS. TO MUTILATE THEM WAS A HUGE LOSS IN THEIR POCKETS! THE CURRENT FLAGS THAT HAVE THE REBEL SIGN ON THEM OR WITHIN THEM HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WAR. YOU’D THINK YOU IGNORANT POLITICIANS WOULD KNOW THIS! THE WAR STARTED WITH THE BONNIE BLUE FLAG FOLLOWED BY THE MAGNOLIA FLAG. IT WASN’T UNTIL THE END OF THE WAR THAT THE REBEL FLAG CAME INTO EXISTENCE AND MOST SOLDIERS USED IT TO MARCH BACK HOME TO THEIR FAMILIES! THAT FLAG IS PART OF HISTORY AND OUR PAST HERITAGE AND LEGACY! DESTROYING THAT WILL NOT DESTROY HOW WE FEEL ABOUT IT AND ALL YOU PEOPLE HAVE DONE IS GROW RACISM! GUESS THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT SO THAT THERE WILL BE A HUGE UPRISING AND THAT WAY MR. PRESIDENT CAN SEND IN HIS HOMELAND SECURITY. ISN’T THIS WHAT HE WANTS ANYWAY TO COMPLETE DESTROYING AMERICA BEFORE HE LEAVES OFFICE? HE HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST BIASED RACIST I HAVE EVER SEEN FOR ALL HE HAS DONE IS PROMOTE MORE RACISM. THANKS OBAMMA FOR SETTING OUR COUNTRY BACK 150 YEARS ON THE PROGRESS THIS COUNTRY HAS MADE! I’M STATING RIGHT HERE AND ONLINE THAT IF THE AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE OFFENDED BY A FLAG USED 150 YEARS AGO, THEN I CONTEST ANY LEADER OR ORGANIZATION THEY HAVE THAT INFLUENCES AND TEACHES RACISM!.. LET US START A PETITION TO HAVE THE NAACP DISSOLVED AND MOVIES LIKE ROOTS, MISSISSIPPIE BURNING, AND SO MANY MORE REMOVED BECAUSE THEY OFFEND THE WHITE PEOPLE AND MAKE ALL OF THEM LOOK RACIST! LET US REMOVE ALL HIGHWAY SIGNS AND PICTURES OF MLK AND SHARPTON AND ANY OTHER SUPPORTER THAN HAS LEAD THESE PEOPLE TO THINK WHITES ARE RACISTS! TALK ABOUT MLK! HE WASN’T A PEACE LEADER. I GREW UP UNFORTUNATELY IN THOSE TIMES. EVERYWHERE THE MAN WENT THERE WERE RIOTS AND MURDERS AND HE TAUGHT THIS REVENGE FROM BEHIND THE CHURCH PULPITS! WHAT MAN OF GOD GOES OUT AND COMMITS ADULTERY AND THEN TEACHES HATRED FOR THE WHITES AND AND TEACHES REVENGE WITHIN GOD’S HOUSE? !!!!!! COULDN’T HELP BUT NOTICE THE NEW MOVIE OPRAH WINFREY MADE EVEN SHOWED THE MAN LEADING THEM FROM BEHIND THE CHURCH PULPIT!…NEWS REPORTS COVERED THE TV ABOUT ALL THE RIOTS AND SOME OF HIS SPEECHES DURING THAT TIME. HE AND THE NAACP AND ALL RACISTS LEADERS NEED TO BE REMOVED FROM THE WHITE PEOPLE’S EXISTENCE TOO AND ANY SYMBOLISM OF THEM ALSO PUT INTO A MUSEUM! WHAT’S FAIR FOR ONE RACE IS FAIR FOR ALL THE OTHERS! I COULD GO ON AND ON ABOUT YOUR IGNORANCE, BUT ALL YOU PEOPLE WANT TO DO IS APPEASE A MINORITY ON THE FLAG ISSUE AND GAY RIGHTS. BY THE WAY, GOD TAUGHT THAT IT WAS WRONG TO HATE AND THAT IF YOU COULDN’T FORGIVE THEN HE WOULD NOT FORGIVE YOU WHEN YOU STAND BEFORE HIM ON JUDGEMENT DAY! GOD DID NOT TEACH HATRED OR REVENGE. NOW WE HAVE NOTHING MORE THAN REVERSE DISCRIMINATION AND EVEN MORE HATRED STIRRING THANKS TO YOUR IGNORANT POLITICIANS! THE MAJORITY HAS ALREADY SPOKEN ON THIS MATTER BEFORE AND WE ARE SICK OF HEARING IT. MS HAS HAD TO GIVE UP THE SYMOBOLS AND SCHOOL MASCOTS AND SO MANY THINGS JUST TO APPEASE A FEW PEOPLE. SO LET US AS WHITES START A PETITION TO HAVE ALL THEIR HISTORY DESTROYED! LET THE STATUES AND SYMBOLS THAT RESEMBLE ANY BLACK MAN OR CONTRABAND CAMP BE TAKEN DOWN FOR THEY ARE OFFENSIVE TO THE WHIT PEOPLE AND MAKE ALL WHITES FEEL YOUR RACIST ATTITUDES! YOU ALL ARE TOTAL IDIOTS THAT SIT IN THE POLITICIAN SEATS AND STATE THAT YOU ARE STANDING UP FOR THE RIGHTS OF THOSE WHO ARE THE MAJORITY. MAJORITY HELL!!!!!!
Pam
July 10, 2015 at 10:18 am
Melanie, very well spoken! Thank you!
Tom Barnes
July 10, 2015 at 10:46 am
The majority once supported slavery and segregation. That doesn’t make it right. No one can seriously entertain the notion that the Civil War was about anything other than the perpetuation of slavery.
Anonymous
July 10, 2015 at 11:42 am
Dear Mr. Tom Barnes:
You are so wrong! What you stated did not happen until the Emancipation Proclamation. I’m not saying slavery is right, but President Lincoln saw he would never win the war without throwing in slavery into the picture! The South wanted to become its own country and leave the Union for the same reasons that people left England and came to America! The Southern men who were prospering and making more money than the Northern States caused Northern people to become furious and Lincoln knew if the Southern States left the Union that the Union wouldn’t be getting all that good tax revenue from the South! Racism was strictly started by Lincoln and by the African Americans! As I stated before, if African Americans are so offended about slavery, they should hate their own homeland for selling them into slavery!… As for the majority today, i know very little to zilch Whites who are racists. That died years and years ago except for a few! The African Americans have been the ones to keep the racism going …Today, there is only 15% African Americans versus roughly 80% of White Americans. The Blacks kill at a rate of 4 times the ratio greater than the 80% of the Whites. The odd things about it is they kill their own race. There are very few White people killed by the Blacks. .In the White race the ratio is less than 1% of the 80% majority that are kill their own White race, yet the ratio is 4 times the amount of the 15% of Blacks who kill their own race!.. Mr Barnes, do you not realize that slavery started in the North????? The African Americans could not do the factory work that the northern businessmen wanted, so they in turn sold them to Southern Plantation owners to do farm work!…Some though kept their slaves as butlers and house hands! Not everyone supported slavery in the majority of Whites! If so, then why did many Whites fight for the North during the Battle???? Huh? The friggin war was totally aboiut segregation and it is uneducated racists like you that keep trying to make Whites look like they are biased and being mean to the African Americans. And before you accuse me of being racist, I have several friends who are African Americans and even other races! Why are you so pro to promote a minority today on an issue that happened 150 years ago?? White people were slaves before African Americans were going back to Biblical times as Gentiles slaving under the Romans…The more people like you egg this crap on, the worse racism is going to grow! Only this time it will be the Whites who have the right to be racists!!!! As for the KKK, it was started by Nathan Bed-ford Forrest because the KKK was formed to protect the rights of the Whites that had been taken away from them! As soon as the Proclamation went through, some of the rebellious African Americans started raping White women and killing. They were out for blood –rather, some of them. Not all Blacks were bad (as well as not all Whites!) and many even stated they wish the Proclamation had never been passed because they had rather have stayed on the Plantations where they were lovingly cared for!…..There are slave narratives out there even commenting on “if I could just go back to that plantation one more time!”…… Since the Proclamation, the Black Men/African Americans have not been African Americans! They were than and now are Americans period!.. Learn to be proud of your country instead of hate it. the past was yesterday and there is nothing we can do to make the past go away period. if anything, African American Americans have more rights than the Whites do! I was born in America, but I am descendants of Irish-Indian decent! But I am an American because I was born here! The very idea of desecrating our cemeteries by removing our flags over the graves and it should not be up to a few politicians or local Park Rangers to make that decision In fact, in our town, over the years, many hones were built over Confederate war grounds. Are you going to make the people tear their houses down too? I will state again and I stand by it along with thousands of other Americans: The Civil War was over secession from the Union and NOT SLAVERY! .
Tom Barnes
July 10, 2015 at 1:11 pm
I had hoped to see that my former state had become enlightened enough to actually get rid of this symbol of hatred. Yes it is a symbol of hatred whether or not you care to admit as much. The underlying causes of the secession were indeed about slavery. You need to do nothing more than to examine the articles of secession from nearly every southern state to see this. As for “slavery starting in the north”, you are correct that it existed there. It was also ended there long before it ended in the south. Lincoln wanted to preserve the union, but knew that the economic underpinning of the south had to be removed. I have not suggested that the flag be removed from cemeteries, battle sites or museums, but it really must not remain in the state flag, It has become an embarrassment.
Anon
July 10, 2015 at 4:25 pm
I can’t believe that a minority can be telling a majority how we need to remember history and honor our past dead both black and white Let the Confederate flag wave even if Ms is the only state left. Next they will want to rewrite the history of the War of Northern Aggression.
LISA
July 10, 2015 at 7:46 pm
STUPID ASS PEOPLE !!! LET’S JUST REMOVE EVERYTHING THAT OFFENDS EVERYBODY !!!!! WE HAVE NO FREEDOM OF SPEECH !! WE HAVE NO FREEDOM OF RELIGION!! EVERYONE IS COMING INTO OUR COUNTRY AND TAKING OVER IT !!! THE WORST IS YET TO COME THANKS TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!VERY ANGRY RIGHT NOW…
J R
July 10, 2015 at 11:53 pm
When the flag is gone……will killings automatically stop? Will hate morph into love? Will blacks quit crying about the injustices of the past? Will the race card disappear? Will blacks be all at once “satisfied” that whitey has at last made things right? Will the low life whites who hate, all at once UNDERSTAND how they are wrong and change their ways? NOT. This might be a “feel good” event for blacks in the short term, however, the actual result of this push will prove to be negative. There are no more barriers to break down. There are no more “colored only” sections in cafe’s, no more riding in the back of the bus, no more water coolers for colored only, no more segregated schools, no more rear entrances for blacks and no longer does a black fear for their life if they wish to marry a white. There are still haters. Always has been, probably always will be. But blacks need to understand that MOST whites do NOT hate. Also understand, keep bullying whitey, and you will most certainly “teach” them to hate. TIME is the “healer,” and every event that pits the sides against one another only serves to “stop the clock.” Time to move on and let the healing occur naturally.
Curtis Brooks
July 11, 2015 at 6:14 am
it is my suggestion that the Ole Miss and Mississippi State football players decide not to play the annual Egg Bowl in November 2015 in protest of the flag. I bet that would get everyone’s attention
R. D.
July 12, 2015 at 5:21 pm
Mississippi decided the issue in 2001, respect the vote of the people. The Mississippi Flag won by 65%! Respect the will of the people.
Tim Heaton
July 12, 2015 at 5:27 pm
As a teenager in Southaven MS, I “borrowed” several traffic signs as decoration for my room. Although not the smartest prank I pulled, I knew that there was a difference between the “STOP” sign in my room and the one at the street corner, i.e. I never drove through the STOP sign on the street, and I never stopped at the one in my room.
Likewise, where the rebel flag is displayed has everything to do with its meaning. The media has either run the STOP sign or they’ve never left their room.