Key moments led to vote
Some 126 years ago, white Mississippi lawmakers adopted a Mississippi flag with a Confederate battle symbol.
A prominent African American legislator, Edward Blackmon, recently noted this design was approved well after the Civil War had ended to “remind Black folk, you haven’t made it yet — that the Confederates still control your livelihood, your quality of life.”
On Sunday, lawmakers voted to take down the flag and choose a new design that better unites Mississippians. Gov. Tate Reeves is expected to
A prominent African American legislator, Edward Blackmon, recently noted this design was approved well after the Civil War had ended to “remind Black folk, you haven’t made it yet — that the Confederates still control your livelihood, your quality of life.” On Sunday, lawmakers voted to take down the flag and choose a new design that better unites Mississippians.
soon sign the bill into law.
But that outcome was far from assured even a few days ago. It took a coalition of lawmakers from both political parties, Black and white, to push through the change even as many voters still say they support the Confederate design and the heritage it represents.
And legislative action only appeared possible after a broad pressure campaign that picked up steam as protests over racial injustice swept over the country.
For years, numerous lawmakers have introduced legislation to change the flag that went nowhere.
For years, debate over changing the flag would flare up from time to time — including during last year’s statewide elections — only to die down again.
Here’s a timeline of key moments that pushed lawmakers down the path to Sunday’s vote:
May 25: George Floyd. Floyd is killed in Minneapolis, prompting nationwide protests over racial injustice and police brutality.
June 5: Protests ramp up. At a protest outside Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office — to protest Fitch dropping charges against a white police officer who shot and killed a Black Columbus man — the issue of the flag and its Confederate symbolism comes up. In the days prior, an online petition to change the flag had gathered tens of thousands of signatures.
June 6: Removing flag a central demand. Peaceful protesters take to the streets of downtown Jackson. Among their leading concerns: the state flag and its Confederate emblem. Several times protesters chanted “Change the flag,” which was visible nearby at the Governor’s Mansion and the Capitol.
June 8: Lawmakers start talking. Lawmakers begin holding meetings and whipping votes related to a state flag change, as first reported by Mississippi Today. But it is late in the session — after many legislative deadlines have passed — and all existing flag change legislation has died. In the following days debate begins to build as legislators ponder: Should voters decide? Could a second official flag be adopted? Is the necessary two-thirds majority needed to suspend rules and consider flag legislation even possible?
June 18: College athletic groups weigh in. The SEC warns it may not hold championship events in the state if the flag doesn’t change. A day later, the NCAA issues a similar statement, threatening major athletic competitions. Conference USA also issues a statement about pulling postseason events. Other college leaders from around the state issue statements in support of the flag’s removal.
June 18: Lawmakers become more vocal. The pressure from athletic groups catches the attention of many lawmakers. Among them is Rep. Trey Lamar, a well-known Republican, who writes on Twitter: “I will not sit by idly while our college athletes lose their hard earned right to compete in post season play.”
June 22: Kylin Hill. Mississippi State running back Kylin Hill on Twitter writes he won’t play for the university unless the flag comes down. The star player’s statement is covered by many national media outlets. A lawmaker will later try to name the flag change legislation after Hill.
June 23: Mississippi Baptists hold news conference. The powerful and conservative-leaning Mississippi Baptist Convention calls for the flag to come down. “The racial overtones of the flag’s appearance make this discussion a moral issue . ... It is therefore apparent that the need to change the flag is a matter of discipleship for every follower of Jesus Christ,” says Shawn Parker, executive director of the group.
June 23: Walmart pulls flags. Walmart says it has pulled Mississippi flags down at its stores. It follows other companies, universities and organizations who have removed the flag in recent years due to its imagery.
June 23: Black lawmakers make final push. About 40 mostly Black lawmakers hold a news conference calling for the flag to be removed before the end of the session. “We need to adopt a flag that is unifying and inclusive,” says Sen. Angela Turner-ford, D-west Point, chair of the Legislative Black Caucus. “The emotional distress that the current flag perpetuates on people of color extends throughout the United States, casting us and having people to claim we are backwater and retrograde.”
June 24: Republican officials release statements. Several prominent statewide Republican officials come out for the first time in favor of changing the flag, including Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and Attorney General Lynn Fitch. Meanwhile, the Mississippi Economic Council runs full-page ads in newspapers around the state calling for the flag’s removal. The ads are signed by dozens of business leaders who say the flag is damaging the state’s reputation and hurting it economically. “It’s no different than flying the swastika, of the Nazis,” Republican Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney tells the Clarion Ledger, adding the Confederate flag nowadays has been “commandeered by bad people.”
June 25: The coaches arrive at the Capitol. College coaches and other university leaders from around the state arrive at the Capitol to call for the flag’s removal. Despite the mounting pressure, it still remains unclear if legislative leaders have enough votes to get it done.
June 25: Senator says not enough votes. A pro-flag lawmaker, Sen. Chris Mcdaniel, R-ellisville, warns there aren’t enough votes to change the flag, and he and a group of others are “holding the line.”
June 26: Delays, uncertainty. It remains unclear whether or when lawmakers will attempt to pass flag change legislation. Mcdaniel and another Republican senator who supports changing the flag spar on the Senate floor. “Let me just be blunt, this flag, if we let it, it’s going to tear us apart,” says Sen. Jeremy England, R-vancleave.
June 27: Reeves endorses, process begins. Just as lawmakers appear set to start the process of advancing a flag change resolution, Reeves issues a statement that pledges he will sign the eventual flag bill. That endorsement — Reeves had largely refused to weigh in on the issue, other than to say voters should decide, not the Legislature — helps some more conservative lawmakers to support the flag change.
June 27: Resolution passes. Later in the afternoon, both chambers pass a resolution to suspend the rules and consider a flag bill, which required a twothirds majority. It appears the largest hurdle of changing the flag has been accomplished. “We try to overcome enough obstacles in Mississippi as it is,” says House Speaker Philip Gunn. “This is an opportunity for us to find a flag that’s unifying for all Mississippians, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
June 28: Flag bill passes. Lawmakers, after considerable debate, pass House Bill 1796, which removes the current banner and lays out a process using a nine-member commission to design a new one. Voters will get to approve the new design in November. Any new design, per the bill, must include the language “In God We Trust.” “Now that this is done, people will begin to look and see the real Mississippi,” Rep. Robert Johnson, the Democratic leader, says after the vote. “They will begin to see we are more than what that flag represents. That we are people that care for each other, that are willing to work together, and that are willing to go forward together.”
Sometime this week: Bill signed. Reeves is expected to hold a ceremony to sign the bill. Within 15 days of the legislation becoming law, flags at government institutions around the state will be removed.