Mississippi gov might not block change to rebel-themed flag

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said Wednesday, for the first time, that he probably would not stand in the way if legislators muster a large enough majority to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag.

Amid the backdrop of national protests over racial injustice, Mississippi is under increasing pressure from business and religious leaders, sports leagues and others to divorce itself from a symbol that many see as racist. It is the last state to include the emblem in its flag.

The state's annual legislative session is almost over, and it takes a two-thirds majority of the House and Senate to consider a bill after the normal deadlines have passed.

'œIf they get those votes, a veto would be pointless,'ť Reeves wrote on Facebook. 'œThe debate would be over, and the flag would change.'ť

Reeves still said, though, that he prefers having a statewide election to let voters choose a flag design.

The governor's statement came hours after two of Mississippi's other Republican officials proposed replacing Confederate emblem with the words 'œIn God We Trust."

The Confederate battle emblem has a red field topped by a blue X with 13 white stars. White supremacists in the Mississippi Legislature put it on the state flag in 1894 as backlash for the political power African Americans gained during Reconstruction after the Civil War.

Mississippi voters chose to keep the flag in a 2001 statewide election, but the design has remained contentious. Elsewhere in the country, debate has sharpened as Confederate monuments and statues recalling past slavery have been toppled by protesters or deliberately removed by authorities amid a groundswell against racial inequities.

Mississippi Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said a new flag would help future generations.

'œIn my mind, our flag should bear the Seal of the Great State of Mississippi and state '~In God We Trust,''ť Hosemann said. 'œ I am open to bringing all citizens together to determine a banner for our future.'ť

Attorney General Lynn Fitch said putting the religious phrase on the flag would 'œreflect the love, compassion and conviction of our people.'ť

Legislative Black Caucus members say lawmakers should remove the Confederate emblem because another statewide flag vote would be bitter.

'œThe emotional distress that the current flag perpetuates on people of color extends throughout the United States, casting us and having people to claim that we are backwater and retrograde,'ť said the caucus chairwoman, Democratic Sen. Angela Turner Ford of West Point.

Another Republican statewide elected official, Auditor Shad White, said Mississippi needs a flag 'œthat is more unifying than the one we have now.'ť

'œIf there were a vote to remove the Confederate imagery from our flag, I would vote to remove it,'ť White said Wednesday.

Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel of Ellisville is among those saying Mississippi should keep its flag and people should resist efforts to remove historical monuments.

'œWhether you acknowledge it or not, the American Left is waging war against us,'ť McDaniel said Tuesday on Facebook. 'œThey consider the founding to be illegitimate, our history to be tainted, and our republic as inherently evil.'ť

In a newspaper ad funded by the state chamber of commerce, dozens of business executives said Wednesday that the Confederate battle emblem needs to be removed from Mississippi's flag because it 'œperpetuates negative stereotypes of our state.'ť

The chamber, called the Mississippi Economic Council, said for years that Mississippi should change its flag. The group said a new flag without Confederate images would boost economic opportunities.

'œThe current flag is harmful to Mississippi's image and reputation for those outside our state and is hurtful to many Mississippians,'ť the group said in the ad.

At a Black Lives Matter rally June 6 in Jackson, thousands of people cheered when an organizer said Mississippi should get rid of Confederate images.

All eight of Mississippi's public universities stopped flying the state flag years ago because of the Confederate symbol. The universities' leaders were at the Capitol on Wednesday trying to build support for a legislative vote on changing the flag.

'œWe know this symbol is holding us back in the eyes of citizens all across this nation,'ť said Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum. 'œAnd citizens around the globe view that symbol as a symbol of hatred and racism.'ť

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Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus.