BY SUSAN LAMONT
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama--A statewide referendum was held in Mississippi April 17 to determine whether the current state flag, which prominently features the Confederate battle flag in its design, would be replaced by a new design.
Of the 756,442 votes cast, two-thirds voted to keep the current flag, which dates from 1894.
Several counties in the predominantly Black Delta region voted heavily for the new flag, which would have replaced the Confederate "stars and bars" with a field of 20 stars. The vote in Natchez, where steelworkers at Titan Tire have been on strike for more than two years, also went in favor of the new flag.
In response to the outcome of the referendum, NAACP president Kweisi Mfume said, "The NAACP will not give up its fight to remove from public property any and all symbols that celebrate the twisted philosophy of bigotry and hatred in this country." He said the NAACP board would decide at its July meeting what action to take.