Mississippi is going to get a new flag.
On Sunday, the state’s legislature passed a bill to remove the Confederate battle emblem from their flag. That bill now goes to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who has said that he will sign it into law.
“This is a long time coming,” NAACP president Derrick Johnson said after the vote on CNN. “Finally, Mississippi decided to be one of the 50 states, and not the one state standing alone still bearing the emblem of a segregated society.”
The bill establishes a commission to create a new flag design with the Confederate symbol, which Mississippians will vote on in November. The current flag has upset many in Mississippi since its adoption in 1894, but it became the target of renewed protest in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, while sparked nationwide demonstrations against racism and police brutality. Statues and other public symbols that honor the confederacy’s racist rebellion against the United States have been removed at an increasing rate across the South over the past several weeks.
Speaking to CNN on Saturday, none other than Jefferson Davis’ great-great-grandson, Bertram Hayes-Davis, explained why he agreed with the calls for a revised flag.
“The flag of Mississippi should represent the entire population,” he said. “And I am thrilled that we’re finally going to make that change,”
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