From 126 years of holding onto the same old traditions and values, the democrats and republicans decided to team up and remove the Confederate Flag under the control of Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves.
On July 2, 2020, Reeves signed the law to remove the flag along with multiple mayors including, Johnny Magee, a current resident of Laurel, MI. Magee, a fellow African-American, viewed the flag as a symbol of stubbornness towards the idea of changing old values. For years Mississippi kept the “old-fashioned” values of the south. The Blue X shaped embedded with white stars with the vibrant red background symbolizes the fact that for years Mississippi refused to accept that the Confederates have lost the war.
With the flag still present… Black People as a whole still had to look at it every day with emotions of anger, disrespect knowing that their state still didn’t look at them equally as people. Now that the flag is removed … Johnny Magee states that “it was like a burden lifted off my shoulders, even though it was on more shoulders than mine”.
The flag of the Confederacy is linked to patterns of scrutiny, segregation, getting treated less than human because of your skin color, Klu Klux Klan riots, etc. In 2001, the voters decided to keep the flag because it maintained the history in the south.
But recently on June 30th, 2020, according to The Washington Post, it was reported that Gov.Tate Reeves looked at the flag as “a symbol of our past, present, and our future,” so in this case, he felt it would be best that “we need a new symbol”.
The flag being torn down is a relief to many southerners. For the local members of Mississippi, born and bred, this is looked at as a sign of change.
Does this mean an end to segregation? Does it act as fuel to the supporters of segregation or racist behavior/activities that could lead to riots? Or is this an indication of shifting a person’s perspective on history and starting to question it?
So many questions that are roaming around due to this decision. The true answer would reflect twenty years from now maybe more.