Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) on Wednesday afternoon added his voice to the chorus of GOP lawmakers calling for Mississippi to remove the Confederate battle insignia from its state flag.
“As a proud citizen of Mississippi, it is my personal hope that the state government will consider changing the state flag,” Cochran said in a statement. “The recent debate on the symbolism of our flag, which belongs to all of us, presents the people of our state an opportunity to consider a new banner that represents Mississippi. I appreciate the views of my friend and colleague Roger Wicker, and agree that we should look for unity and not divisiveness in the symbols of our state.”
Wicker said earlier Wednesday that “As a Christian, I believe our state’s flag has become a point of offense that needs to be removed.” The state’s House speaker, Philip Gunn (R), also called for a new state flag.
Southern states are experiencing a sea change in their relationships to the Confederate flag and other Civil War-era symbols after South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) on Monday asked lawmakers to remove the flag from state Capitol grounds. Haley acted in response to the massacre of nine black churchgoers in Charleston by a white gunman. The suspect appeared to have posed with the flag in several photos taken before the attack.
