It is a symbolic change, but a significant one. The elected officials of the US state of Mississippi have decided to change the flag, which is the last to retain a reminder of the period of slavery. This decision was taken Sunday by the House of Representatives, that is to say the deputies, and the Senate.
This choice comes as a wave of anti-racist protests in the United States has rekindled the controversy over the persistence of slave symbols. The parliamentarians of this southern state of the United States have decided that a new flag no longer bearing the banner of the Confederation should be adopted. The current flag includes the standard (red background, blue cross diagonally with small white stars) which represented the Southern States, opposed to the abolition of slavery, during the Civil War (1861-1865).
Citizens will choose a new one
Mississippi is the only state to have the Southern emblem on its flag since neighboring Georgia abandoned it in 2003. The law passed Sunday provides for a nine-member commission to design a new flag that will include the phrase “In God. We Trust ”, the American motto. Mississippi citizens 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.
A Democratic Senator from Mississippi, John Horhn, stressed that the flag change alone would not dispel the effects of the southern United States’ racist past. “But it is a big step on the way to the recognition of humanity and the value given by God to all people. The governor, the equivalent of state president Tate Reeves, who was not in favor of the flag debate, said on Saturday that he would not use his veto and that he would enact the law if passed. In any case, the senators’ decision was applauded after its adoption.
The issue of racial discrimination has been the subject of particularly heated debate in the United States since the death in May of George Floyd, an African American who died after being asphyxiated during his arrest by a white police officer in Minneapolis, in Minnesota. His death sparked a wave of protests in the United States against the abusive use of force by the police and against racial discrimination. These protests have often resulted in riots that have resulted in deaths and looting. The movement also resulted in the degradation or destruction of statues of Confederation leaders and other historical figures accused of links to racism or slavery.
In 2001, Mississippi voted overwhelmingly to retain its current flag, considered by its defenders to be a symbol of the historic heritage of the southern United States. But in the context of recent protests, the debate has been revived in the state. A black parliamentarian, Edward Blackmon referred to the flag that flies over parliament. “I imagine a lot of us don’t even see that flag anymore. But some people notice it every time we walk in here, and it’s not a pleasant feeling. “
The movement to change the flag has gathered momentum in several sectors of society over the past week. An American football star has said “he’s had enough” of this flag. The powerful association of Mississippi Baptist Churches called for change. Other associations from various economic sectors, as well as officials from the sports world, have joined the movement.
