_**Candidates who are in favor of changing the Mississippi Flag:
_**
Candidates for U.S. Senate Mississippi
David Baria (D) - US Senate
Roger Wicker (R) - US Senate
Candidates for U.S. Senate Mississippi (Special Election) **
Mike Espy - US Senate
**Candidates for U.S. House Mississippi District 2
Bennie G. Thompson (D)
Candidates for U.S. House Mississippi District 4
The following is a list of individuals, groups and communities who have called for the
removal of the Confederate emblem from the Mississippi state flag and/or condemned
public displays of the Confederate emblem (this list is not necessarily comprehensive and
Current and former state and national political leaders and public officials:
Philip Gunn (R), Speaker of the State House of Representatives
US Sen. Thad Cochran (R)
US Sen. Roger Wicker (R)
US Rep. Bennie Thompson (D)
Henry Barbour (R), Republican National Committee Member
Sen. Deborah Dawkins (D)
Sen. David Blount (D)
Sen. John Horhn (D)
Rep. David Baria (D)
Rep. Sonya Williams-Barnes (D)
Rep. Jeramey Anderson (D)
Rep. Kathy Sykes (D)
Candidate for US House of Rep., 4th Cong. Dist., Mark Gladney (D)
Former Gov. William Winter
Former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove
Bill Luckett, Mayor of Clarksdale
Johnny Dupree, former Mayor of Hattiesburg
Tony Yarber, former Mayor of Jackson
Vicki Robinson Slater, 2016 gubernatorial candidate
Melton Harris, Jackson Co. BOS
The MS Democratic Party
4th Congressional District MS Democrats
MS Legislative Black Caucus
Councilman Felix Gines (D), Biloxi
Chokwe Lumumba, Mayor of Jackson
Toby Barker (R), Mayor of Hattiesburg
FoFo Gilich (R), Mayor of Biloxi
Biloxi City Council (drafted and passed resolution endorsing state flag change)
Gautier City Council (drafted and passed resolution endorsing state flag change)
Atty. Gen. Jim Hood (D)
Sen. Briggs Hopson (R)
Andy Taggart - Executive Director of the MS Republican Party in 1984; political director of the
MS Republican Party in 1980 and 1981; MS State Chairman for the presidential campaign of
Ohio Governor John Kasich; former Chairman of the Greater Jackson (MS) Chamber
Partnership; former Madison County Supervisor; former CEO of MS Technology Alliance; named
by Governor Phil Bryant in 2014 as Co-Chairman of the Mississippi Department of Corrections
Task Force on Contract Review and Procurement; attorney and gubernatorial appointee to the
Mississippi Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee
Percy Bland (D), Mayor of Meridian
Lynn Fitch (R), MS State Treasurer
Carlos Moore, Attorney and Municipal Court Judge Pro Tem, Clarksdale
Rickey Authement, Alderman, City of Ocean Springs
Jason Shelton (D), Mayor of Tupelo
Mario King (R), Mayor of Moss Point
Religious Leaders and Organizations:
Southern Baptist Convention
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Mississippi Diocese of the Episcopal Church
Mississippi Religious Leadership Council
United Methodist Church
Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA)
The Washington National Cathedral (Catholic Church)
Lighthouse Community Church, Biloxi
Academic leaders and organizations:
Morris Stocks, UM interim Chancellor
Robert Khayat, former UM Chancellor
Dan Jones, former UM Chancellor
Mark Keenum, MSU President
Jim Borsig, MS University for Women President
The University of Mississippi
Mississippi State University
University of Southern Mississippi
UMMC
Mississippi University for Women
Delta State
Jackson State University
Alcorn State University
Mississippi Valley State University
Millsaps College
The SEC
The NCAA (prohibits post-season collegiate tournaments is MS due to the current flag)
Ole Miss Coaches Hugh Freeze, Andy Kennedy and Mike Bianco
MSU Coaches Dan Mullen and Ben Howland
SEC Football Coaches Nick Saban and Steve Spurrier
Board of Trustees for State Institutions of Higher Learning (2001)
Robert Luckett, Ph.D., Jackson State University
Stephanie Rolph, Ph.D., Millsaps College
Janice Brockley, Ph.D., Jackson State University
Alison Greene, Ph.D., Mississippi State University
William Storey, Ph.D., Millsaps College
James Giesen, Ph.D., Mississippi State University
Christian Pinnen, Ph.D., Mississippi College
Otis W. Pickett, Ph.D., Mississippi College
Robert S. McElvaine, Ph.D., Millsaps College
Kathryn Green, Ph.D., Mississippi Valley State University
Anne Marshall, Ph.D., Mississippi State University
C. Sade Turnipseed, Ph.D., Mississippi Valley State University
Bridget Smith Pieschel, Ph.D., Mississippi University for Women
Elizabeth Anne Payne, Ph. D., University of Mississippi
Anne Twitty, Ph.D., University of Mississippi
Max Grivno, Ph.D., University of Southern Mississippi
Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D., University of Southern Mississippi
Charles Westmoreland, Jr., Ph.D., Delta State University
Darren Grem, Ph.D., University of Mississippi
Alexandra Finley, Ph.D., Mississippi State University
John R. Neff, Ph.D., University of Mississippi
Ted M. Ownby, Ph.D., University of Mississippi
Amy Wiese Forbes, Ph.D., Millsaps College
Erin M. Kempker, Ph.D., Mississippi University for Women
Andrew P. Haley, Ph.D., University of Southern Mississippi
Kevin D. Greene, Ph.D., University of Southern Mississippi
Jarod Roll, Ph.D., University of Mississippi
April Holm, Ph.D., University of Mississippi
Rebecca Tuuri, Ph.D., University of Southern Mississippi
Kyle F. Zelner, Ph.D., University of Southern Mississippi
Patrick Connelly, Ph.D., Mississippi College
Jason Ward, Ph.D., Mississippi State University
James Pat Smith, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of History, USM
Douglas Bristol, Ph.D., USM
Andrew N. Wegmann, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History at Delta State University
Civic, Economic and Non-Profit Organizations:
Mississippi Economic Council
Mississippi Development Authority
Gulf Coast Business Council
Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce
Mississippi Business Journal
Mississippi Manufacturer’s Association (2001)
MS NAACP
National NAACP
Biloxi NAACP
Jackson Co. NAACP
Hancock Co. NAACP
Gulfport NAACP
Stone Co. NAACP
Steps Coalition
League of Women Voters of MS
Mississippi Onward PAC
Mississippi Rising Coalition
The Flag for All Mississippians Coalition
The Mississippi Rainbow Center
Come As You Are (CAYA)
The American Family Association (2001)
The ACLU of MS
Southern Poverty Law Center
Emmett Till Interpretive Center
Jenna R. Fassbender Center for LGBTQ Alliance
Harrison Co. Federation of Democratic Women
Jackson Co. Federation of Democratic Women
The Ecumenical Coalition for Women and Families
DSU Gender and Sexuality Alliance
Children’s Defense Fund (Southern Regional Office)
Mississippi Center for Justice
National Association of Social Workers (MS Chapter)
Human Rights Campaign Mississippi
Spectrum Center (Hattiesburg)
New South Collective
Hijra House
Mississippians Stand Together
Hattiesburg Indivisible
Indivisible Golden Triangle MS
Indivisible Jackson Metro Area
Indivisible L.O.U. (Oxford)
Indivisible MS Delta
Indivisible Northeast Mississippi
MS Gulf Coast Indivisible
South Mississippi Indivisible
MS Reproductive Freedom Fund
Mississippi Association for Justice
Mississippi Humanist Association
Newspapers/Media:
Clarion-Ledger
Jackson Free Press
The Sun Herald
Mississippi Business Journal
Greenwood Commonwealth
Delta Democrat Times
Daily Mississippian
Columbus Commercial Dispatch
Brookhaven Daily Leader
Hattiesburg American
WJZD94.5 FM
WLOX (ABC/CBS affiliate, MS Gulf Coast)
SuperTalk Radio
BamSouth.com
Hattiesburg Post/Hub City Spokes
Cities and Counties that have removed state flag from public spaces:
Clarksdale
Hattiesburg
Magnolia
Grenada
Jackson
West Point
Columbus
Starkville
Oxford
Vicksburg
Greenwood
Greenville
Moss Point
Waveland
Leflore Co.
Washington Co.
Oktibbeha Co.
Sunflower Co.
Adams Co.
Hinds Co.
Biloxi
Tupelo (current state flag removed from Tupelo Police Dept. by Mayor Shelton, Tupelo City
Council passed resolution along racial lines to require display of current flag on all other
municipal properties)
McComb
Pascagoula
Meridian
Cleveland
Bolivar Co.
Pass Christian
Bay St. Louis
Businesses/Corporations:
BancorpSouth
Mississippi Power
Huntington Ingalls Shipyard
Sanderson Farms
Betta Boats, LLC, Bay St. Louis
Pharr Construction
Benjamin Electric
State Caps
Harvest Trends, Inc.
Sanderson Farms
Sustainable Equity, LLC
MGM Resorts International*
Apple*
Pepsi Co.*
Merck*
Joe Max Higgins, CEO, Golden Triangle Development LINK
Reed Smith, LLP – Law Firm of Attorney Michael Scott with locations throughout the U.S. and
internationally
(*CEO has publicly denounced symbols of hate and white supremacy, but not current MS state
flag specifically)
Notable native Mississippi cultural leaders:
Archie Manning
Greg Iles, award-winning writer
Jimmy Buffet
Richard Ford, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist
Morgan Freeman
Kathryn Stockett, author of “The Help”
Aunjanue Ellis, actress in “The Help,” “Quantico”
Jim Barksdale, former Netscape CEO and philanthropist
John Grisham
Myrlie Evers-Williams, civil rights activist and wife of slain activist Medgar Evers
Boo Ferris, former Boston Red Sox pitcher
Hanna Roberts, Miss Mississippi 2015
Jack Reed, Sr., business leader
Reuben Anderson, former MS Supreme Court Justice
Glen Ballard, Grammy-winning music producer
Bailey Howell, Basketball Hall of Fame
Great-great-grandson of President of the CSA, Jefferson Davis
David Banner, musician
Genesis Be, musician
Big KRIT, musician
Rick Cleveland, Exec. Dir. Of MS Sports Hall of Fame
Rip Daniels, owner of WJZD 94.5FM and host of “It’s a New Day” talk show
Paul Gallo of The Gallo Show on SuperTalk radio
Susan Glisson, former Director at William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation and racial
reconciliation practitioner
Pam Johnson, Author
Joe Max Higgins, CEO, Golden Triangle Development LINK
Others:
US state, Oregon
Philadelphia, PA
US Capitol, Washington DC
(List compiled by Mississippi Rising Coalition)
