Some question replacing Mississippi’s Confederate symbol with ‘In God We Trust’
The Rev. Isiac Jackson Jr. was one of many Mississippi residents who took it as a spiritual victory when the state’s lawmakers voted June 28 to remove the Confederate symbol from the state’s flag.
“God answers prayer,” said Jackson, president of the General Missionary Baptist State Convention. “He may not come when you want him, but he’s always on time.”
Jackson was one of many Black faith leaders who had spoken out against the flag, which was adopted in 1894 as Mississippi’s whites tried to consolidate political power after Reconstruction. The bill’s passage, and Republican Gov. Tate Reeves’ signature two days later, closes the door on a debate that has long frustrated African Americans, who make up 37.8% of Mississippi’s population, the largest percentage of any state.
“Black folks in the state of Mississippi have been praying for the removal of that flag for over a hundred years,” he said of the former banner. “God fixed the hearts of former slaveowners’ children to bow to the will of God and remove that flag.”
But tucked inside the legislation changing the flag was a peculiar mandate. “The new design for the Mississippi state flag recommended by the commission shall not include the design of the Confederate flag, but shall include the words ‘In God We Trust,’” the act reads.
Requiring the phrase has drawn a range of reactions, with politicians and faith leaders arguing that it is unifying and watchdog groups seeing it as evidence of Christian nationalism.
The inclusion of “In God We Trust” was first suggested by two prominent Republican lawmakers, Attorney General Lynn Fitch and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann.
“It is my personal belief that it is time for us to change our state flag to reflect the love, compassion and conviction of our people,” Fitch said when she proposed its inclusion in the bill, according to The Associated Press. “The addition of ‘In God We Trust’ from our state seal is the perfect way to demonstrate to all who we are.”
The state seal of Mississippi has included the phrase “In God We Trust” since 2014, when it was bundled within the passage of a religious freedom bill.