Mississippi Will Removes ‘Stars and Bars’ from State Flag

Around the nation, a reckoning has come for the Confederate battle flag.

The infamous “stars and bars” flag has become a hot button topic here in the United States as of late, with Black Lives Matters protesters railing against the symbolism of the Confederacy, citing its racial connotations.

Even NASCAR, a sport where the the image of the flag was almost ubiquitous among its fans, has decided to ban the display of the flag on all of their properties.

Now, even the State of Mississippi is making a change. 

Mississippi is on the verge of changing its state flag to erase a Confederate battle emblem that’s broadly condemned as racist.

The flag’s supporters resisted efforts to change it for decades, but rapid developments in recent weeks have changed dynamics on this issue in the tradition-bound state.

As protests against racial injustice recently spread across the U.S., including Mississippi, leaders from business, religion, education and sports have spoken forcefully against the state flag. They have urged legislators to ditch the 126-year-old banner for one that better reflects the diversity of a state with a 38% Black population.

Despite the fact that there were numerous boycotts planned surrounding SEC football, officials maintain that the move did not arise from a fiscal concern.

“There are economic issues. There are issues involving football or whatever,” Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said Saturday. “But this vote came from the heart. That makes it so much more important.”

As with the NASCAR move, there is almost sure to be a great deal of chatter about this latest change.