The Greene County Democrat

Tag: Mississippi state flag

  • Newswire: At least 26 dead in Mississippi tornado, predominately Black community devastated

    By Hazel Trice Edney

    DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and other emergency management officials speak with a survivor of the devastating tornadoes that impacted Rolling Fork, Mississippi. (PHOTO:FEMA)

    TriceEdneyWire.com) – A couple of mornings of national news focus on the tornado that killed at least 26 people in 80 percent Black Rolling Fork, Mississippi and many news agencies have now  turned to another mass shooting in Nashville. Competing news interests have faded from the people of Rolling Fork, but they are receiving help from politicians, private and public disaster assistance agencies, churches and kind-hearted volunteers.

    “Friend – a series of violent tornadoes have devastated Mississippi and neighboring areas: destroying homes, damaging businesses, and tragically taking at least 26 lives,” the NAACP wrote in a mass email appealing for help from its members. “The NAACP is urgently responding to Mississippi’s state of emergency. We’re coordinating relief efforts with the Red Cross, Congressman Bennie G. Thompson, and local branch leaders so that every Mississippian gets the support they need ASAP. Your donation, no matter how large or small, will help our teams on the ground provide shelter, food, water, and other essentials to NAACP members and others who are suffering.

    According to Abre’ Conner, NAACP director of Environmental and Climate Justice, author of the email, “In some areas, the destruction evokes horrifying memories of record-breaking storms like 2005’s Hurricane Katrina and 2011’s Tuscaloosa–Birmingham tornado.”

    He concludes, “A rapid and robust response is essential. With hundreds of Americans displaced and untold damage done, we’re calling on our nationwide NAACP community to come together and support the families and individuals suffering from this disaster.”

    Emergency responders are on the scene, but the rare tornado which was on the ground for more than an hour, destroyed homes, businesses and cars beyond imagination. According to initial reports, Diesel trucks were flipped over and cars were picked up and dropped on top of buildings and debris piled as high as 20 feet tall. Rolling Fork, Silver City, Black Hawk and Winona were hit hardest by the EF-4 tornado that tour through the area late Friday night, March 24.

    Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves issued a state of emergency for all the counties affected by the severe weather, describing the state as “devastated.” President Biden has approved escalated response to that declaration. Rolling Fork Mayor, who led the governor on a tour of the destruction, expressed appreciation for those who are sending help and expressed hope amidst the tragedy. 

    “On behalf of this entire community, first we want to say thank you. We want to thank you for all you’re doing for the families of this community and making sure the city of Rolling Fork will come back bigger and better than ever before,” Walker told the media. “Now, I’m having to meet my families, those who have lost loved ones, and help them make it through this traumatic time,” Walker said. “But you know what? I’m a firm believer that when you do right, right will follow you. And I think that I’ve been prepared to take on this task and I am going to do it in the name of the mayor of Rolling Fork and the man that I am and the man that God has made me to be.”

  • Black Lawyer argues Mississippi’s flag represents racial discrimination; battle over Confederate flag continues

    By Lawyers Herald Staff Writer

    State of Miss flag

    Mississippi state flag which includes the Confederate flag.

    Voters will decide whether to replace the state’s old flag, which sports the Confederate battle cross, with a new flag that would have 20 white stars on a blue square. A Mississippi lawyer sued Governor Phil Bryant for flying the state flag, an emblem tantamount to hateful government speech against himself and African American residents of Mississippi’s rights.Carlos Moore alleged that the current flag contains a Confederate emblem with a racial discriminatory purpose to subjugate African-Americans to second class status and promote the notion of white supremacy. Thus, his constitutional rights have been violated along with all African American citizens of the state.
    Moore stated in his complaint, which was lodged before the jurisdiction of Southern Mississippi U.S. District Court, that time is of the essence for the removal of the current state flag from all public display on public lands and adoption of a non-discriminatory state flag. He also emphasized that there was a recent mass killing by a young white supremacist who was a Confederate battle flag sympathizer and militant. Mississippi is the only state that incorporates the Confederate emblem flag into its state flag.
    Moore said that he invoked some of the same language from the Obergefell v. Hodges case, which the U.S. Supreme Court solidified to legalize same-sex marriage nationally.
    “Such case is the law of the land, and if it applies to same-sex couples, and they’ve got the right to be respected; surely African Americans have the right to be respected too,” Moore said in an interview.
    However, Republican Bryant, who recently issued a proclamation naming April as Confederate Heritage Month, has said voters should decide whether to keep the flag used since 1894.
    He said that he will rely on a landmark case filed in the mid-1990s in Georgia. A black resident of Atlanta sued over the design of Georgia’s flag, which then displayed the same Confederate battle emblem that’s still on the Mississippi banner.
    In such lawsuit, it argued that the flag was racist because the Confederate emblem was added in 1956 to defy school desegregation rulings. U.S. District Judge Orinda D. Evans ruled in January 1996 that she would not make Georgia stop flying its flag because: “There simply is no evidence in the record indicating that the flag itself results in discrimination against African-Americans.”
    In a report by The Oregonian, House Speaker Tina Kotek stated, “After attempting again this week to reach out to leadership in both the Mississippi House and Senate, I now believe it is time for us to act. We should remove the Mississippi flag.”
    Constitutional law expert Matt Steffey said that there are some issues with Moore’s legal claims.
    “The 14th Amendment is not usually read to be concerned with symbolic matters, and the flag is by definition a symbol,” Steffey said. “And while the lawsuit attempts to tie this to violence, at least in a courtroom, there’s no way to establish that.”