After being a Mississippi resident for several years, I developed a fondness for the people, the landmarks, and yes, even the state flag. I thought it was amazing that Mississippi citizens cherished their flag so much that they voted to keep it. But recently, state lawmakers took it upon themselves to get rid of the flag, calling it racist (which I don’t agree with). The following article shows how Mississippians are not happy with this move at all.
MISSISSIPPI FLAG REVIVAL?
Organizers of a group called Let Mississippi Vote said that they are starting an initiative to put the retired flag and three other flag designs on the statewide ballot.
“What the legislators did, in my opinion, was 100% wrong,” said the group’s leader, Dan Carr. “We should give the people of Mississippi the right to vote on this flag.”
Getting any initiative on the ballot requires signatures from more than 106,000 voters, evenly distributed among the five congressional districts Mississippi used 20 years ago. Most initiatives fail because organizers fall short in gathering signatures.
Petitions for this initiative could hit the streets in a few weeks, after required paperwork by the secretary of state and attorney general. The signature-gathering process could be complicated by social distancing recommendations during the coronavirus pandemic.Even if this initiative gets to the ballot, an election could be a year or two away. And, Mississippi might have a new flag before then.
A commission is already working on a flag design that, by legislative mandate, cannot include the Confederate battle emblem and must have the phrase, “In God We Trust.”Under the law that retired the old flag, the lone design that commissioners recommend will go on the ballot this November. If voters accept the design, it will become the new state flag. If they reject it, the commission will come up with a new design that will go on a later ballot.
For now, Mississippi is a state without a flag.
(Article courtesy of Dixie Heritage Newsletter, Aug. 21, 2020 ed.)