Mississippi House takes first firm step to remove Confederate symbol from flag
Source: Washington Post
By Brittany Shammas
Mississippi lawmakers on Saturday took the first step toward changing the state flag, after nationwide protests of racial injustice refocused attention on the last in the country to continue featuring a Confederate emblem.
Applause broke out when the House of Representatives voted 85 to 35 to suspend rules and allow consideration of a bill creating a new design free of Confederate iconography.
Ahead of the historic vote, Speaker Pro Tem Jason White (R) argued forcefully against keeping the old flag, saying that 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.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/mississippi-lawmaker-state-flag-should-represent-us-not-just-some-of-us/2020/06/27/28464fc5-dd58-4930-b3d1-8abdee084b74_video.html
Mississippi state Rep. Edward Blackmon Jr. (D-Madison) spoke before a vote to remove the Confederate emblem from the state flag on June 27. (Mississippi Legislature/YouTube)
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/27/mississippi-flag-vote/
= new reply since forum marked as read
I needed to see a little Republican sanity today.
-Laelth
