WASHINGTON | The Confederate symbol on the Mississippi flag joined history books on Tuesday with the governor’s signing of a law removing this reminder of the state standard of slavery.
• Read also: Mississippi Senate votes to remove Confederate symbol from state flag
With its emblem – red background, blue cross diagonally with small white stars -, which represented the southern states, opposed to the abolition of slavery during the American Civil War (1861-1865), Mississippi was the only state to still carry the southern symbol on its flag. Georgia, with a long segregationist past, abandoned this symbol in 2003.
“This is not a political gesture, it is a solemn opportunity to come together as a Mississippi family, to reconcile and move forward,” said Governor Tate Reeves, before signing this law.
–
–
Perceived by many as racist, the flag is part, like the statues of the Confederate generals or slavery leaders, of the emblems questioned in the framework of the great anti-racist demonstrations which have been shaking America for a month.
Mississippi citizens, nearly 40% of whom are African Americans, will have to vote on the new flag in November. If they reject it, the state will not have a flag until a new design has been approved.
–
