A little more than a week ago, Republican Governor Tate Reeves signed the historic bill to change the 1894 Mississippi flag with its Confederate battle emblem. At a press conference yesterday, Reeves says symbols like the state's banner should reflect all.
"There is a difference between monuments and a symbol such as a flag," said Reeves. "A symbol such as the flag should represent our present, it should represent our people and quite frankly it should represent our future."
But as far as monuments, Reeves doesn't believe cities or counties should be removing them saying they "recognize the past." Since 1972, Mississippi has had a law on the book to protect Confederate monuments.
Supervisors in Bolivar, Lowndes, Washington, and Lee counties have voted to remove statues. Critics say removing symbols of the Confederacy is an attempt to erase and ignore parts of Southern history.
The Jackson City Council voted this week to move its namesake statue of Andrew Jackson from outside City Hall.
"While we cannot erase history, as people have said, nor are we attempting to erase history... we can make certain that those individuals that we immortalize as being revered reflect the spirit and culture of what our city looks like today and where we want to go," said Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba.
Monday an all-white male board in Lafayette County voted not to remove a statue in the Oxford Square. Mississippi has nearly 150 Confederate symbols and at least 50 of them are statues and monuments.
