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A Republican senator from Mississippi came out in favor of replacing the state’s flag Wednesday, saying, “After reflection and prayer, I now believe our state flag should be put in a museum.”
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker said in a public statement that while he previously did not see the Confederate flag in the upper left corner of the state flag as offensive, his opinions have changed in light of the recent public backlash after a shooting in a historically black church in Charleston, S.C. last week. “It is clearer and clearer to me that many of my fellow citizens feel differently and that our state flag increasingly portrays a false impression of our state to others,” Wicker said.
When the Confederate Flag Seemed Like a Fad
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The statement marks a reversal from Wicker’s stance on Monday that he would leave the decision on Mississippi’s flag up to “the will of the people of Mississippi.” He is joined by House Speaker Philip Gunn, who called the state flag “a point of offense that needs to be removed.”
Read Next: Why Mississippi Is Unlikely to Redesign Its State Flag
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