Harrison County joins other Coast cities in taking down state flag. Here’s a list.
Harrison County Supervisor Kent Jones took down the Mississippi State flag on Monday morning at the county courthouse in Gulfport a day after the state Legislature approved a bill that retires the divisive symbol with its Confederate battle emblem.
Jones said all state flags will be removed Monday from county property with approval from the Board of Supervisors, although no official vote was taken. Jones said supervisors communicated about what to do after the Legislature approved the bill retiring the flag in historic votes on Sunday.
A commission will be appointed to come up with a new flag design that must be finalized by Sept. 14. Voters will decide in a Nov. 3 referendum whether the design, which will be printed in color on the ballot, should become the new state flag.
The current state flag will be retired no more than 15 days after the flag law, House Bill 1796, takes effect, which will be when Governor Tate Reeves signs the bill. His office said Monday morning that he is expected to sign the bill in “the coming days.”
As the board’s only Black supervisor, Jones wanted to take down the flag at the Gulfport courthouse.
Gulfport council members Ella Holmes-Hines and Truck Casey, the two Black members of Gulfport’s council, stood near the flag pole as Jones lowered the flag before a small group of onlookers.
“This was a last-minute thing,” Jones told the Sun Herald. “I wasn’t trying to do a big thing. I didn’t even speak. Everything had already been said.”
“This has been a civil rights struggle over the years as far as the flag goes.
“I was just a conduit. All the work has been done before me. Everyone has put in their due time protesting and marching out there.”
The flag has long been a symbol of racism and oppression, but lawmakers and local public bodies have been reluctant to remove it, especially after a statewide referendum in 2001 when Mississippians voted 2-1 to keep the flag.
The climate has changed with growth of the Black Lives Matter movement and continued brandishing of the flag by white supremacists and hate groups.
“It was important that the city and the county take down the flag,” Holmes-Hines said. “This is a great day in the city of Gulfport to have the county united with us.”
Gulfport, Bay St. Louis and Ocean Springs also have taken down the flag.
D’Iberville and Long Beach are waiting for Reeves to sign the bill before removing the state flag.
The Sun Herald will update this story with a list of localities removing the flag.
Staff Writer Mary Perez contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 12:14 PM.
