Some residents of Mississippi have filed a federal lawsuit to prevent the state’s flag from being displayed in the coastal town of Ocean Springs.
The lawsuit argued that the Mississippi state flag, which includes a Confederate flag emblem on it, is “racially demeaning and hostile” and sends an unwelcome message to black residents, according to the Associated Press.
“Ocean Springs’ display of the Mississippi state flag is intended to – and does – send a message to African-American citizens that they are second-class citizens and are not welcome in Ocean Springs,” the lawsuit stated. “It also sends a message to African-Americans who might consider living or visiting the city that they too are not welcome and it deters them from moving into the city or visiting the city for both social and commercial purposes.”
This is not the first time a lawsuit against the Mississippi state flag.
The Associated Press reported that Carlos Moore, one of the current lawsuit’s attorneys, previously tried to change the state flag in 2016 by having it declared as an unconstitutional relic of slavery.
The current lawsuit argued that the state banner violates the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection for all, in addition to the Fair Housing Act.
Mississippi residents voted in 2001 in a statewide election to keep the confederate emblem on the state flag, but several Mississippi cities, counties and universities have stopped flying the flag after complaints that it is a reminder of the state’s history of racism.
