Gunn: Confederate part of MS flag 'needs to be removed'

Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn said Monday night that the Confederate emblem in the state's official flag has to go.

"We must always remember our past, but that does not mean we must let it define us," Gunn, a Clinton Republican, said in a statement. "As a Christian, I believe our state's flag has become a point of offense that needs to be removed. We need to begin having conversations about changing Mississippi's flag."

It's the first time a Mississippi Republican elected official has publicly called for the removal of the emblem that served as the battle flag flown by the Confederate army during the Civil War. Later, it was adopted by anti-Civil Rights groups.

Gov. Phil Bryant said Monday morning that he didn't expect the Legislature to "supersede the will of the people on this issue."

He was referring to the 2001 ballot measure in which 64 percent of those who voted made the flag with the Confederate emblem the state's official banner. Bryant spokeswoman Nicole Webb said the governor voted with the majority.

A spokeswoman for Bryant said Monday night he was traveling and unavailable for comment on Gunn's position. A spokesperson for Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves had not responded to questions sent Monday morning, and again Monday night.

The debate whether to remove the Confederate battle flag from South Carolina's state capitol, touched off by last week's Charleston church shooting, arrived in Mississippi over the weekend.

A moveon.org petition dropped Saturday seeks the removal of the Confederate emblem from Mississippi's official banner, the one that flies over most every government building. "In the wake of the devastating hate crime perpetrated at Mother Emanuel AME in Charleston, it is time to remove all symbols of hate from state and other government buildings. It is time for us to come together and move into the future in solidarity," the petition's background reads.

As of Monday night, the petition (which can be viewed here) had gotten more than 4,500 signatures.

Jennifer Gunter, a Jackson native and two-time Ole Miss graduate who now pursues a Ph.D in American History at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, dropped the petition Saturday.

"I tell people that the flag that flies in front of the statehouse here, at least that's not your official state flag," she said in a phone interview Monday morning. "It's still a part of mine. I figured if we were going to change it, this would be the time. Are we still going to be the last to take it down?"

Oxford restaurateur John Currence was among the first 100 people to sign Gunter's petition. He called former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's and lawmakers' decision to put the flag issue to a vote – rather than change it themselves like Georgia's legislature did in the early 2000s – an "insult."

"What's ironic more than anything else is that this simple act would be an enormous change for the state," Currence said in an interview Monday. "Other states, like Georgia, have prospered because of this, and we continue to stubbornly fight it."

Gunter said she would like for the petition to receive a minimum of 100,000 signatures before delivering it to lawmakers and to Bryant. South Carolina's petition, as of Monday, had earned more than 400,000.

The calls to remove the flag from that state's capitol included a lot of Republicans, and not just state officials. Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney made his position known over the weekend, Tweeting from his verified account that the flag was "a symbol of racial hatred." Current GOP contender Jeb Bush called for the flag's removal Monday.

The mood, at least until Gunn's statement Monday night, had been different among Mississippi Republicans.

State Sen. Melanie Sojourner, R-Natchez, criticized Romney in a Facebook post Saturday.

"Mitt Romney's call to action regarding the flying of one of this nation's historical flags is an example of what is wrong with society today," the post said. "The flag was no more the 'source' of horrible acts against mankind than a gun is the 'source' of someone's death. The 'source' is the hatred and evil that resides in the hearts of some who live and have lived among us. We all have a responsibility to make certain that it is the 'source' we address and not place blame on something that alone could do no harm. Simply placing blame on something that some see as a symbol only perpetuates the problem."

Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Sen. Kenny Wayne Jones, D-Canton, said it was "possible" changing the flag could be on that body's agenda come the next legislative session, which starts in January. "We're looking at it very seriously," Jones said. "We believe the state is more progressive (than it was in 2001). We don't want to step on the historical aspect of it, but it's so offensive to so many people. That flag as a representation of the state has no right to be here."

Contact Clay Chandler at (601) 961-7264 or cchandler@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @claychand on Twitter.