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Mississippi State Flag Referendum (April 2001)
| Mississippi State Flag Referendum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date April 17, 2001 | |
| Topic Motto and symbols | |
| Type State statute | Origin State legislature |
The Mississippi State Flag Referendum was on the ballot in Mississippi on as a legislatively referred state statute on April 17, 2001.
The ballot measure presented voters with two potential state flags. Voters approved Proposition A, which reaffirmed the use of the flag adopted in 1894 containing the Confederate battle cross.[1]
Election results
| Mississippi State Flag Referendum (April 2001) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 | 494,323 | 64.39% | ||
  Proposition B | 273,359 | 35.61% | ||
Note: Rather than a "yes"/"no" vote, the referendum asked voters to choose between Proposition A (the 1894 flag with the Confederate battle cross) or Proposition B, a proposed new flag.
Official results via: The Mississippi Official & Statistical Register 2000-2004(p.656)
Aftermath
Response to the killing of George Floyd (2020)
After the killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, the debate about confederate flags and statues resurfaced. On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officers arrested George Floyd, a Black man, after receiving a call that he had made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill.[2] Floyd died after one officer, Derek Chauvin, arrived at the scene and pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck as Floyd laid face-down on the street in handcuffs.[3] Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and an independent autopsy conducted by Floyd's family ruled Floyd's death as a homicide stemming from the incident.[4]
State flag referendum of 2020
House Bill 1796, which was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Tate Reeves (R) on June 30, 2020, removed the Mississippi state flag's official status and provided for the removal of the state flag within 15 days. The bill established the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag, which was tasked with designing a new state flag and reporting the recommended design to the Governor and to the state legislature by September 14, 2020. The bill provided that "the new design for the Mississippi State Flag shall honor the past while embracing the promise of the future." House Speaker Pro Tempore Jason White (R) said that the Confederate flag had come to be viewed as a hate symbol "whether we like it or not" and that "by changing our flag, we don’t abandon our founding principles. We embrace them more fully by doing what is right. We’re not moving further away from our Founding Fathers’ visions. We’re moving closer to them. We’re not destroying our heritage; we’re fulfilling it."[5]
Response to Emanuel AME Church shooting (2015)
On June 17, 2015, nine African-American churchgoers, including pastor and State Senator Clementa C. Pinckney, were murdered in what was believed to be a racially-motivated crime. Dylann Storm Roof, the suspect in the case, posed with the Confederate battle flag in multiple photos posted online. Following the shooting in Charleston, some Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Mississippi had called on the state to reevaluate and revise the state's flag, which features the Confederate battle cross.[6] Rep. Charles Busby suggested a new referendum as one possible route to changing the state flag. Rep. Busby stated, "The flag belongs to the people. I would not vote to change the flag in the legislature. I would however, support a new referendum to allow the people to speak again."[7]
Philip Gunn, the Republican Speaker of the House, commented, "I believe our state’s flag has become a point of offense that needs to be removed. We need to begin having conversations about changing Mississippi’s flag."[8]
Democratic Sen. Kenny Jones said times had changed and a new discussion on the flag needed to be held. He said, "In 2001, the conversation centered around the flag being disrespectful and appalling to African-Americans, but at the same time it was about the heritage to the white community. Now, the conversation is different. Now it’s about how this symbol represents hatred, violence and bigotry. Now it’s about what can we do to make our state more progressive but in a bipartisan way."[8]
Gov. Phil Bryant stated that legislators should not go against the will of the electorate. He said, "A vast majority of Mississippians voted to keep the state’s flag, and I don’t believe the Mississippi Legislature will act to supersede the will of the people on this issue."[8]
The Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus requested Gov. Bryant to convene a special legislative session addressing the state flag. The governor, however, declined the group's request.[7]
Text of measure
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Proposition A and Proposition B flags
|
Proposition A flag |
Proposition B flag |
Support for Proposition A
Supporters of Proposition A were in favor of using the flag that contained the Confederate battle cross.
Supporters for Proposition A
- Greg Stewart, a Tunica-based lawyer[1]
Arguments
- Greg Stewart, a Tunica-based lawyer, argued, "The [pro-Proposition B] economic argument didn't work because they could never name a single business that left the state of Mississippi or didn't come here because of the flag. And the racism argument didn't work because all these white liberals were lumping all black people together as helpless victims, and that didn't go over too well with anyone."[1]
- Mississippi resident Norma Patton said, "I like the old flag. It's silly to change something that's not broke. Changing it would just hurt race relations. I don't think anything helps that stirs it all up."[1]
Support for Proposition B
Supporters of Proposition B were in favor of adopting a new state flag that did not contain the Confederate battle cross.
Supporters for Proposition B
Arguments
- Gov. Ronnie Musgrove (D) said, "We must now put aside our differences as we continue to create a state that provides a good quality of life for our people."[1]
- Mississippi resident and grocery store owner Hezekiah Watkins said, "I was a freedom rider. The other side would hold the rebel flag. It was always a sign of segregation and hatred."[1]
- Proposition B supporters issued an advertisement mailer reading, “It's not right that our kids can't find good jobs close to home because companies won't locate in our state, but it's a fact. They have the wrong idea about Mississippi. A state flag that includes the Confederate flag just adds to those false opinions.”[1]
Background
The 2001 flag referendum came about after a lawsuit brought by the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) alleging that the use of the Confederate flag in the state flag violated plaintiff's constitutional rights to free speech, due process, and equal protection. The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that the state flag's inclusion of the Confederate Battle Flag did not violate any constitutionally protected rights. The court had also found that the state flag requirements were not codified in state law and thus that Mississippi did not have an official state flag. The 2001 flag referendum was held to formally adopt a state flag and officially codify it in law.[9][10]
Mississippi became the only state with a state flag containing the Confederate flag after Georgia had removed it from their state flag in 2001. The Georgia state flag had contained the Confederate flag since 1956.[11]
Path to the ballot
The measure that provided for the state flag referendum, House Bill 524 of 2001, was passed in the House on January 9, 2001, and was passed in the Senate on January 11, 2001. Governor Ronnie Musgrove (D) signed the measure on January 12, 2001.[12]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 New York Times, "Mississippi Votes by Wide Margin to Keep State Flag That Includes Confederate Emblem," accessed July 20, 2020
- ↑ Washington Post, "The death of George Floyd: What video and other records show about his final minutes," May 30, 2020
- ↑ The New York Times, "8 Minutes and 46 Seconds: How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody," May 31, 2020
- ↑ USA Today, "Medical examiner and family-commissioned autopsy agree: George Floyd's death was a homicide," June 1, 2020
- ↑ Washington Post, "Mississippi lawmakers pass resolution paving way to remove Confederate symbol from state flag," accessed June 29, 2020
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Both Mississippi Senators Urge State To Change Its Flag In Wake Of Charleston Shooting," June 24, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Mississippi Public Broadcasting, "A Former Mississippi Governor Says the State Flag is More Than a Symbol," June 25, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Time, "Why Mississippi Is Unlikely to Redesign Its State Flag," June 23, 2015
- ↑ Mississippi 5th Chancery District Court, "The United Sons of Confederate Veterans v. Mississippi NAACP Branches, et al." May 4, 2000
- ↑ WMC Action News 5, "Remembering 2001: Voters choose to make current state flag official," accessed June 29, 2020
- ↑ Washington Post, "The NCAA is limiting its Confederate flag policy to Mississippi, despite examples elsewhere," accessed June 29, 2020
- ↑ Mississippi State Legislature, "House Bill 524 (2001)," accessed July 20, 2020
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