Mississippi Lawmakers Give Go-Ahead to Change State Flag That Features Confederate Emblem

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th June, 2020) The lawmakers of the US state of Mississippi have passed a resolution allowing to proceed with changing the state's flag, which features the Confederate emblem, the CNN broadcaster reported on Sunday.

According to the media outlet, the Mississippi House of Representatives passed the resolution in an 85-34 vote, followed by the Senate (36-14).

The bill is expected to come into force later on Sunday.

The governor of Mississippi, Tate Reeves, has previously expressed his readiness to sign any bill that passes the legislature proposing to remove the Confederate emblem from the state's flag.

Mississippi is the only US state that still features the Confederate emblem on its flag. An ongoing debate to revise the 1894 flag has intensified following a month of civil rights protests in the wake of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis in May.

The US retail corporation Walmart has already stopped displaying the Mississippi state flag in its stores due to the presence of the Confederate emblem, which is commonly seen as a symbol of slavery and racism in the US.

Statues and monuments commemorating notable Confederate personalities, such as famed general Robert E. Lee, have been targeted by civil rights protesters over recent weeks. Six people were arrested in Richmond, Virginia on Friday evening after clashes broke out near a Confederate monument in the city.

Earlier this week, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced that Confederate monuments based on Capitol grounds in the city of Raleigh would be removed in the interests of public safety.