Oxford and Greenwood Bring Down Mississippi State Flag

Jimmy Buffett, John Grisham, Morgan Freeman and Archie Manning are among notable Mississippians who are calling for a change to the state flag. We are leading conversations about race relations and building stronger communities – most notably through our award-winning race relations conference. Those who visit the university and the Delta from around the country and overseas deserve to know we are a welcoming community.

“The Rebel flag was never meant to fly over state capitols” – it was designed as a bright rallying point that could be seen even in the smoke of battle, the letter said. “It also believes that holding NCAA pre-determined championship events in Mississippi is not in the [sic] keeping with the established criteria”. A recent 1,100-mile trip through the state that included dozens of interviews revealed pockets of support for a new flag among Whites, mostly in college towns and larger cities.

Oxford Alderman voted to stop flying the Mississippi state flag on city property this week. Mississippi is the only state where the symbol still flies over the statehouse. It noted that after the war, Gen. Robert E. Lee said, “It’s time to furl the flag, boys”, and told Southerners to “obliterate the marks of civil strife and to commit to oblivion the feelings it engendered”. People who support the banner say it represents history and heritage and results of election should be respected. The council is asking Attorney General Jim Hood for an explanation of state laws about displaying the flag.

It was most recently back in the headlines when Dylann Roof, the suspect accused of gunning down nine people in a South Carolina church in June (15), was pictured posing with the Confederate flag, and now a host of celebrities want Mississippi officials to wipe the symbol from the official state emblem.

The capital city of Jackson stopped flying the Mississippi flag at City Hall several years ago. Cleveland says the list says a lot about the need to get rid of the flag.

Previous reports stated that six other state flags-those of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee-contain a Confederate symbol, but Mississippi’s flag is the only one that assimilate the battle flag, which is questionably the most noticeable.