Another city could furl state flag with Confederate emblem
September 12, 2017 at 5:41 p.m.
| Updated September 12, 2017 at 5:41 p.m.
by
Associated Press
FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016 file photo, a Mississippi state flag is unfurled by Sons of Confederate Veterans and other groups on the grounds of the state Capitol in Jackson, Miss., in support of keeping the Confederate battle emblem on the state flag. A black Mississippi citizen is taking his case against the state’s Confederate-themed flag to the U.S. Supreme Court. In papers filed Wednesday, June 28, 2017, attorneys for Carlos Moore said lower courts were wrong to reject his argument that the flag is a symbol of white supremacy that harms him and his young daughter by violating the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection to all citizens. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
MERIDIAN, Miss. (AP) - Another Mississippi city could stop flying the state flag because it features the Confederate battle emblem that critics see as racist.
Meridian Mayor Percy Bland tells The Meridian Star he thinks the flag is "divisive" in a state with a 38 percent black population.
He says the City Council could discuss removing the flag from display on municipal property when it meets Sept. 19.
All eight of Mississippi's public universities and several cities and counties have stopped flying the flag because of concerns about the Confederate emblem.
WTOK-TV reports a small group protested the flag Monday outside the Lauderdale County Courthouse in Meridian. Organizer Dennis Allen said the flag represents "high treason" by Southern states that tried to secede before the Civil War.
