Jackson County supervisors can expect an audience for Monday flag vote
PASCAGOULA -- The NAACP is calling on all Coast chapters to attend Monday's Jackson County Board of Supervisors meeting which is set to vote on the whether the state flag will fly on county property. At issue is the Confederate battle emblem in the flag's upper-left corner.
"We will hold a prayer vigil and then take our seats in order to make sure we will be there en mass to witness what we hope will be the Jackson County supervisors doing the right thing," the Jackson County NAACP's Curley Clark said.
"They'll either vote it up or down," Clark told the Sun Herald. "Whatever takes places in Jackson County will set the tone for whatever happens up and down the Coast. There are similar requests in Harrison and Hancock counties and my hopes are that it will spread across the state."
He said he expects the support of three coastal NAACP chapters; the One Flag for All initiative, which will be collecting signatures on a petition; the Jackson County Ministerial Alliance; and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Moss Point.
The NAACP asked county leaders along the Coast in February to take down the state flag because the battle emblem is offensive to many in the state. They want it removed from all county property.
Only Jackson County leaders promised a vote after they had a chance to consider the issue.
Clark told the Jackson County board Feb. 1 black Americans want to be equal, and "it's hard to do that when in our face is symbolism that infers we are inferior and don't belong."
He urged them to "do the right thing, what needs to be done to portray the image you most often speak of -- one Mississippi. We can't be one Mississippi as long as we have this symbol that divides us."
The issue is on the Board of Supervisor's agenda under Action Items simply as "Mississippi State Flag."
When asked what he thinks the chances are Jackson County will vote to take down the flag, Clark said, "Things are changing from day to day. This week, we've had a Moss Point native who filed a lawsuit in federal court to have the flag changed."
This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 8:34 PM with the headline "Jackson County supervisors can expect an audience for Monday flag vote ."