New Mississippi state flag, no stars & bars but must include "In God We Trust"

[KY_EnviroGuy]

22. Good article on AU's web site on this issue....

Last edited Mon Jul 6, 2020, 12:42 PM - Edit history (1)

Mississippi Trades Confederate Emblem For ‘In God We Trust’ On State Flag
Jul 02, 2020 by Samantha Sokol
Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU)

Link: https://www.au.org/blogs/mississippi-new-flag

Excerpts:

These flags and their histories show that Christian nationalism and white nationalism are closely tied. And it’s not just symbols; the proof is in the polls. Researchers find that the more people’s views align with Christian nationalism, the more likely they are to also have negative attitudes towards racial and religious minorities. Christians nationalists are more likely to oppose interracial marriage, hold anti-Muslim prejudice, believe that Black Americans are more violent than white Americans and blame Black Americans who are killed by police. As Caroline Mala Corbin of the University Miami School of Law summarizes, for Christian nationalists, “The mythical Christian America pictured is actually a white Christian America. In other words, ‘Christian nation’ is usually understood to mean ‘white Christian nation.” Unsurprisingly, studies show that an overwhelming majority of supporters of Christian nationalism are white.

Of course, not everyone who supports “In God We Trust” is a white nationalist. And the effect of those words cannot be compared to that of the Confederate emblem, which symbolizes the brutality of slavery and the injustice of segregation. For 126 years, Mississippians have lived under a flag that paid homage to those white Mississippians who enslaved and terrorized Black people.

Still, our vision of justice should be expansive. Mississippi should not replace one exclusionary flag with another. Mississippians practice a variety of religions and faiths, and one in four identify as nonreligious. Our state flags are powerful symbols, so they should represent our shared values and the diversity of our communities. But the new Mississippi flag is just one indication that we still have a ways to go to be an inclusive society: Polls show that people continue to hold negative views towards atheists, who remain among the most negatively viewed groups in America. Unfortunately, under the bill signed by Reeves this week, Mississippi’s flag will continue to signal who is welcome and valued in the Magnolia State and who is not.

Mississippi can’t just paper over its white nationalist symbols with Christian nationalist symbols and say that justice is done.

KY