A supermajority of South Carolina legislators now officially supports removing the Confederate flag from the statehouse. Since the Charleston attack, stores and major companies like Wal-Mart and Amazon have stopped selling the flag. Mississippi is now the only state with Confederate imagery in its flag.Ĭriticism of the Confederate flag has grown after the racially charged mass murder of church parishioners at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, last month. Nikki Haley called for its removal and five days later, an activist climbed the flagpole and took it down herself. South Carolina had flown an actual Confederate flag on its statehouse grounds until late June.
Georgia removed the Confederate stars and bars from its flag in 2003. “Generally we don’t take action unless something is brought up by the community and we internally haven’t talked about it as a group,” Lata said. The issue might be addressed at an upcoming meeting, but he doesn’t think taking down one flag would be effective. Lata says Friends of the Flags has the final say and the most the commission could do is to talk to them. “If the people of Mississippi want it on their flag that’s their deal, but we don’t have to give it a place of honor in our community,” McGuan said.Ĭhair of the Juneau Human Rights Commission Alavini Lata, says the board hasn’t received any complaints from the community. In a controversial statewide referendum in 2001, voters doubled down on keeping the flag.īut the flag doesn’t belong in Alaska, according to McGuan. Mississippi adopted its current flag in 1894. The flags are replaced yearly using a donated piece of heavy equipment. “Well, it’s a state representation of the flags, that’s what we have up, no matter what’s on the flag,” Carroll said.Īlthough he understands the controversy surrounding the flag, he said immediately removing it is impractical. Jim Carroll, has been a Friends of the Flags volunteer since the display’s inception. It’s a relic of a terrible time in our country’s history,” McGuan said. That’s a symbol of intimidation and hatred. In light of recent events, McGuan decided to do something about it. Mississippi is a part of an all-states flag display organized every year by a group of volunteers who call themselves Friends of the Flags. “On a personal level, my ancestors were slave owners, and I feel like that flag symbolizes our country’s original sin,” he said, “and we have to atone for that.” On Monday evening business owner Marc Wheeler and community member Matt McGuan spoke to the Assembly about removing the flag.įor Wheeler, who’s originally from Louisiana, his connection to the Confederate flag goes back generations.
Some locals are calling for the removal of the Mississippi state flag flying on the main street into downtown Juneau because it prominently features the Confederate stars and bars. The Mississippi flag on Egan Drive features Confederate imagery in its upper left corner.
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