State flag divides Mississippi lawmakers
EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press
6 p.m. CST February 17, 2016
JACKSON - ... Speaker Pro Tempore Greg Snowden, the House’s second ranking leader, proposes having two state flags with equal status, so people could fly whichever one they want — the current flag or an historical flag with a magnolia tree in the center ...
“As a Christian, I believe our state’s flag has become a point of offense that needs to be removed,” <Mississippi House Speaker Philip> Gunn, a leader in his local Baptist church, said in June ...
Republican state Rep. William Shirley of Quitman said that became a hot topic of conversation at his catfish restaurant when the University of Mississippi stopped flying the flag. The consensus, he said, was that any school that takes state money should fly the flag. Shirley is now sponsoring legislation to pull state money from universities, community colleges or local governments that don’t fly the banner ...
Several African-American lawmakers, including Democratic Sen. Hillman Frazier of Jackson, propose replacing the current flag with the historical magnolia flag — the design Snowden proposes as a second flag. Although Mississippi used the magnolia flag during the Civil War, Frazier said he believes it would be widely accepted in the state with a nearly 38 percent black population ...
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/story/news/politics/2016/02/17/state-flag-divides-lawmakers/80526868/