University of Southern Mississippi removes Mississippi flag from campus

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http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2015/10/28/usm-lowers-state-flag/74744562/

This has been a huge week in Mississippi.

The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg has taken down the state flag and will not fly it again in its current design.

Here is the current flag of the state of Mississippi:



You can probably see the problem.

The University of Mississippi in Oxford on Monday took down all Mississippi state flags. UM ("Ole Miss&quot is the state liberal arts school. USM ("Southern&quot is the teachers' college. The remaining co-ed public non-HBCU is Mississippi State University (think "Georgia Tech" or "Texas A&M" or "Virginia Tech" -- the most prestigious veterinary school in the country, incidentally), which ironically is generally considered the most liberal of the three. Bulldogs: it's time to stand up and join the other universities.

The "rebel flag" has absolutely no historical provenance in Mississippi. None. The army it was the flag of never fought in Mississippi, and in fact was frequently vilified as having abandoned Mississippi during Grant's Vicksburg campaign. There is no reason for this to be our flag.



Here is the "Magnolia Flag" a lot of us want to replace the current state flag with. It's historically accurate (it was actually flown in the 19th century), it has symbolic elements everyone agrees with (the magnolia is our state tree and flower), and it's frankly just a much better looking flag.

[TexasTowelie]

1. Statement from Millsaps College:

In light of the tragic deaths of nine innocent people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and the racial tensions and misunderstandings that persist in our nation, Millsaps College believes that removing the Confederate emblem from the state flag of Mississippi would be a wise and symbolically meaningful action at this time. This affirmation is consistent with our Wesleyan tradition, commitment to social justice, and institutional mission to help shape the social, economic, and cultural progress of our region.

Now is also the time for honest, open, and sometimes difficult discussions that engage our city and state on the topics of human dignity, racism, and the methods by which such tragedies can be prevented in the future.

Dr. Robert W. Pearigen
President

Mr. Thomas Fowlkes
Chair, Board of Trustees

http://www.millsaps.edu/news_events/statement_of_millsaps_college_regarding_state_flag.php

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2. Very good point; thank you

Millsaps was and is absolutely a leader here in the state.

[struggle4progress]

3. Excellent!

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4. Yup. Mississippi University for Women is moving on this too

I'm unbelievably proud of what I'm hearing from my home state right now.

[struggle4progress]

5. !

[LuvNewcastle]

6. I'm glad people are talking about

replacing the current flag with the Magnolia Flag. A big reason that the flag referendum we had several years ago failed was that the replacement flag was ugly and had no history behind it. I hope that the legislature changes the flag soon; another referendum would take too long.

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7. Right? It looked like the flag of a failed post-soviet state

Not to mention the fact that I voted in that election and the ballot was so confusing that I still can't tell you which way I actually voted.

[LuvNewcastle]

8. We're having commercials now on how

to vote for Proposition 42. You have to mark the ballot twice or your vote will be no. We need ballot reform in this country. I think the process should be transparent and simple. Some people are making it much more complicated than it has to be, and they're doing it on purpose.

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9. OMFG 42 and 42a. Don't even get me fucking started...

It's an absolute travesty.