Mississippi faces reckoning on Confederate emblem on flag

JACKSON, Miss.— The young activists who launched a protest movement after George Floyd’s death are bringing fresh energy to a long-simmering debate about the Confederate battle emblem that white supremacists embedded within the Mississippi state flag more than 125 years ago.

Anti-racism protests have toppled Confederate statues and monuments across the United States in recent days, and even NASCAR banned the display of the rebel flag. But Mississippi has been a holdout for years in displaying the emblem in the upper-left corner of its banner.

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves rejects the idea of a legislative vote on erasing the symbol. If the flag is to be redesigned, “it should be the people who make that decision, not some backroom deal by a bunch of politicians in Jackson,” Reeves said this week.

The mere mention of removing the Confederate emblem from the Mississippi flag stirs anger in its defenders, who tell people to leave the state if they don’t like it.

The issue has gained new momentum since Floyd was killed last month by Minneapolis police. Thousands of people turned out June 6 in downtown Jackson for a protest organized by Black Lives Matter. One of the organizers, 18-year-old Maisie Brown, read a list of demands that started with “the removal of all Confederate symbols and memorabilia.”

A loud cheer rose from the racially diverse crowd on a street outside the Governor’s Mansion. Reeves was not home to hear it. He was out of town with his family.

Mississippi, with a 38% black population, still has dozens of rebel soldier statues outside courthouses. It’s also the only state with a flag that includes the Confederate battle emblem — a red field with a blue X dotted by 13 white stars.

Reeves has repeatedly refused to answer reporters’ questions about whether he thinks the flag properly represents the state. The first-year governor declared April to be Confederate Heritage Month.

Mississippi has used the Confederate emblem in its flag since 1894, when white supremacists in state government adopted it after Reconstruction. Georgia put a large Confederate battle symbol on its state flag in 1956, during a backlash to the civil rights movement. That state purged the symbol from its banner in 2001 — the same year Mississippi voters chose to keep it on their flag.

During two news conferences this week, Reeves would only repeat what he said during the 2019 governor’s race — if the flag is going to be changed, it should be done by a statewide election. He said any Mississippi resident can start a new ballot initiative, which requires signatures from more than 100,000 voters.

“When the people believe it’s time to change the flag is when the flag will be changed,” Reeves said Monday.