Rally calls for keeping Confederate emblem on Mississippi flag

A Mississippi state flag-carrying supporter walks between a small group of counter protestors seeking a change to the current flag, right, and those wanting to keep the Confederate battle emblem on the state flag, on the left, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016 at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. Sons of Confederate Veterans and other groups staged a day-long rally on the grounds of the state Capitol in support of keeping the Confederate battle emblem on the state flag. (Rogelio V. Solis/The Associated Press)
A Mississippi state flag-carrying supporter walks between a small group of counter protestors seeking a change to the current flag, right, and those wanting to keep the Confederate battle emblem on the state flag, on the left, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016 at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. Sons of Confederate Veterans and other groups staged a day-long rally on the grounds of the state Capitol in support of keeping the Confederate battle emblem on the state flag. (Rogelio V. Solis/The Associated Press)
A Mississippi state flag-carrying supporter walks between a small group of counter protestors seeking a change to the current flag, right, and those wanting to keep the Confederate battle emblem on the state flag, on the left, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016 at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. Sons of Confederate Veterans and other groups staged a day-long rally on the grounds of the state Capitol in support of keeping the Confederate battle emblem on the state flag. (Rogelio V. Solis/The Associated Press)

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — About 200 people who want to keep the Confederate battle emblem on the Mississippi flag are rallying outside the state Capitol.

Some say removing the symbol would be akin to communists rewriting history.

Chuck McMichael of Shreveport, Louisiana, is a past national commander in chief for Sons of Confederate Veterans. He said Tuesday that those seeking to change the flag are pushing a “leftist, progressive agenda.”

The public display of Confederate symbols has come under increased scrutiny since June, when nine black worshippers were massacred at a church in South Carolina. Within weeks, lawmakers removed a Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina Statehouse grounds.

The New Orleans City Council voted in December to remove Confederate monuments.

Mississippi has had the Confederate battle emblem on its flag since 1894.

 

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