Mississippi governor says he would sign bill to remove Confederate emblem from state flag
Amid ongoing national protests against racial injustice, Mississippi state lawmakers have paved the way for legislation to remove the Confederate symbol from the state flag.
Lawmakers on Saturday delivered impassioned speeches for and against abandoning the Confederate symbol, which has endured previous challenges. Many described the day as historic, invoking the Founding Fathers, their own family histories and future generations in explaining their votes.Rep. Edward Blackmon Jr. , who is black, said that he had overcome the feelings he had seeing the flag growing up but that it represents a painful history.
House Speaker Pro Tempore Jason White also argued forcefully against keeping the flag, saying that “whether we like it or not,” it had come to be viewed as a symbol of hate.“By changing our flag, we don’t abandon our founding principles,” he said. “We embrace them more fully by doing what is right. We’re not moving further away from our Founding Fathers’ visions. We’re moving closer to them. We’re not destroying our heritage; we’re fulfilling it.
Saturday’s vote was a procedural measure necessary so that legislators could consider a bill changing the flag. That measure, which requires a simple majority rather than a two-thirds vote, seems likely to pass.The current proposal, which could be debated as early as Sunday, calls for the immediate removal of the existing flag and the creation of a commission to design a new one.
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