Over the past few days, I’ve been following the state flag issue closely. I first have to say thank you to Mississippi Today and other statewide organizations have been reporting on this issue since killing of George Floyd on May 25 caused this issue to arise once again.
A day under five weeks later, Mississippi is now going to retire the confederate flag emblem on the current state flag. I can’t say how glad I am to see that the flag is going to change.
This issue has come up several times over the years. The last significant push came in 2016. Days after the Charleston, S.C., church shooting in 2015, Speaker of the House Phillip Gunn became the first significant state leader to push for a change. He backed that up for strongly pushing the House to get it done. However, he didn’t have the votes to get it done then.
Days after the Floyd incident caused protests and some riots across the nation, the wheels of the Mississippi Legislature started turning.
There were moments when it was all but certain, but the pendulum swung back, as the bill was assigned to a committee where it was all but certain dead. Then the pressure got turned up. You had statements from the SEC and the NCAA that would ban any tournaments or championships from being hosted here. While the NCAA had already planned championship sites from being here, postseason games were still allowed to take place on campus, but this new statement closed that loophole.
Players such as Mississippi State running back Kylin Hill also made their voices heard. Then all 4-year college coaches and athletics administrators went to the Capitol last week to lobby for the change, including Lane Kiffin and Mike Leach.
Then, polling data by the Mississippi Economic Council showed that 55 percent of Mississippians would support the change, partially backed by their own flag design removing the battle emblem and placing a state seal in the center of the current flag which had strong support.
With everything happening so fast, it’s easy for voters to think that their voice was not being heard. However, I disagree with that statement.
Voters had a say when we elected our representatives. I privately expressed my position to them, as I hope that you did as well. Then our representatives did what they felt like the majority of the people in their district wanted them to do.
In 91 House districts and 37 Senate districts, those representatives felt like the majority of their constituents wanted them to change the flag now and hold a referendum on a new flag. There were also 23 House districts and 14 Senate districts that felt like the flag should not change in this manner, whether they felt like it should have been a vote or they didn’t want it changed at all. By the way, all of our local representatives voted against changing the flag in this manner.
If those representatives were wrong about it, then you need to let them know by either messaging them or voting for someone else in the future.
That is exactly how a representative democracy should operate. The people should contact their representatives with their requests, and then the representatives make a decision based on that information. I also realize that representatives might go against wishes of the majority in their district if they feel like it’s the best thing for the district, but in general, they are still working for their district and their state.
One thing I am happy about is how civil and clean the debate was. There was no name-calling. It was an emotionally charged, but everyone kept their emotions under control. And after the dust settles at the end of the day— kind of like the sheepdog and the coyote cartoon — they showed each other respect.
While I know we cherish our right to vote on issues like this, we need to consider that one of the most important ways we use our vote is to elect the people who represent us. And the vote doesn’t end there. Continue to stay in touch with your representative and help them keep a pulse on your district.
You can contact Publisher Brent Maze at bmaze@newtoncountyappeal.com.
