Mississippi

Confederate symbols removal pushed by Mississippi Democrats in State Capitol, Washington DC

Published

3 months ago

February 25, 2024

Confederate symbols removal pushed by Mississippi Democrats in State Capitol, Washington DC

Republican committee chairs give little response on moving bills forward

Ever since Lexington’s District 47 Rep. Bryant Clark had been coming to the Mississippi State Capitol as a child and later as a lawmaker, symbols of the old Confederacy had loomed on flag poles, hallway corners and the very ceiling of the building.

Clark, whose father Robert was the first Black state legislator elected in the 20^th century, told the Clarion Ledger some of those symbols went unnoticed to him and several others until this year.

Other vestiges were also placed by the state nearly 100 years ago in Washington, D.C.’s Statuary Hall, displaying Confederate figures Jefferson Davis and James Z. George. The Kentucky-born Davis, a former U.S. Senator representing Mississippi, was most famous as the President of the Confederate States of America. George was a Confederate politician and military officer and the namesake of Mississippi’s George County.

Now, Clark and several other legislators have filed bills to either replace a painting of two generals raising a Confederate battle flag with the state’s current flag of a magnolia flower or remove it entirely. Other bills filed by State Senators Derrick Simmons and David Blount, both Democrats serving Greenville and Jackson respectively, would aim to replace the two statues in Washington, D.C.

“I’ve been here 21 years and quite honestly, I had never seen that until Sen. Bradford Blackmon had brought it to my attention,” Clark said. “All citizens have embraced the (new) flag, and I think it would be the ideal symbol to replace the Confederate picture with the Mississippi flag.”

Another legacy lawmaker, Blackmon, D-Lexington, who replaced his father Edward Blackmon this year in the Senate, said he filed a bill to replace the painting in the Capitol’s rotunda ceiling, which also displays other religious and historical images. He too had never noticed the painting.That bill, SB 2217, would direct the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to remove the painting and create a commission consisting of governor appointments, the director of the MDAH, a member of the Mississippi Arts Commission and several lawmakers, to decide what should replace it.“Coming off a few years removed from taking down the state flag with the battle emblem inside of it, there’s a lot more representations of Mississippi that can go up there, and that’s what led me to draft a bill,” said Blackmon.

Blount and Simmons both said they would vote for Blackmon’s bill, but they are heavily focused on lobbying to create a commission of their own to replace Davis and George with more modern representations of Mississippi.

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“There are a number of changes that need to be made in Mississippi,” Blount said. “It’s a problem.”

Senate President Pro Tem. Dean Kirby, R- Pearl, who chairs the Rules Committee where both Senate bills were sent, told the Clarion Ledger he has spoken with Blackmon, and he will consider bringing his bill forward.

“It’s definitely something I will discuss with my committee,” Kirby said.

Since Kirby took over the Rules Committee in 2020, no bills regarding the removal of Confederate paintings or statues or the establishing of commissions to discuss them have made it out of his committee.

According to MDAH records, when the current State Capitol was built in the early 1900s, the original ceiling did not include depictions of the confederate battle flag. The building was later renovated and restored in the 1980s, a project that cost the state $19 million, according to MDAH records.

In 2021, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, signed legislation to replace the state’s former flag, which also depicted the stars and bars of the Army of Northern Virginia battle flag flown during the Civil War, with one showing a magnolia flower.

The traditional Confederate battle flag never flew over Mississippi as a state flag during the Civil War. Mississippi’s flag in that era featured a magnolia tree as its dominant symbol.

Over in the in the Mississippi House of Representatives, Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, told the Clarion Ledger he is sponsoring a bill to replace the two statues as well, but instead of creating a commission to oversee the replacement, he is asking the legislature to approve placing famous civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer and Hiram Revels, the first Black man in the United States Senate.

“Those two Confederate leaders, I don’t think are appropriate representations of the state of Mississippi, and I think we ought to have some statues of people who represent how we move forward,” Johnson said.

However, these pieces of legislation may be falling on deaf ears.

Johnson said he had spoken with first year House Speaker Jason White, R-West, about his bill and that White responded positively toward the idea.

Friday morning, White’s Communications Officer Taylor Spillman said he had no such meeting. White declined to comment on whether he would support removing the painting in the rotunda or replacing Davis and George in Washington D.C.

“We are focusing on education and Medicaid right now,” Spillman said.

Johnson’ bill, House Concurrent Resolution 12, was sent to the Rules Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Fred Shanks, R-Brandon.

When asked to speak on the bills introduced by Johnson and Clark, who also serves as his vice chair, Shanks declined to comment.

Sen. Walter Michel, R-Ridgeland, who vice chairs the Senate Rules Committee, said he would not vote to replace the paintings in the Capitol building.

“I’m not interested in moving that,” Michel said. “I like it, it looks good. It’s a beautiful painting up on top of the ceiling of the rotunda so I’m not interested in moving that bill.”

Read other legislative pushes Senate, House GOP leadership pushing Medicaid bills that could help 210,000 in MS

Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

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Mississippi

Coleman signs with Mississippi College – Vicksburg Daily News

Published

2 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Press Room

Coleman signs with Mississippi College – Vicksburg Daily News

Donovan Coleman: Photo by Alvin Coleman

Clinton High School football player Donovan Coleman has signed with Mississippi College.

Coleman, a standout defensive back, announced it on social media on Friday. He chose MC over other universities, including Alabama A&M.

As a junior in 2022, Coleman helped the Arrows to a 7-5 season.

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Baseball: Larry homers twice, Mississippi State cruises past Missouri

Published

9 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Press Room

Baseball: Larry homers twice, Mississippi State cruises past Missouri

STARKVILLE — Amani Larry’s younger brother was the “Lil’ Dude of the Game” at Dudy Noble Field on Friday, having come all the way from Bossier City, Louisiana to watch the senior second baseman play his final regular-season home games for Mississippi State.

In-stadium host Grace Harvey asked Larry’s brother who his favorite Bulldogs player is, and he gave the obvious answer. Perhaps inspired by the love from his family, Larry homered twice after the brief interview as part of a three-hit, four-RBI day to lead MSU to an 8-2 victory over Missouri.

“It was pretty awesome,” Larry said. “It’s awesome when you realize I’m playing in The Dude. Not everybody gets to do that. A lot of (youth) teams take field trips to The Dude. I’m just blessed to be here.”

With center fielder Connor Hujsak still out with a back injury, freshman Ethan Pulliam has shifted from second base to the outfield for the last two games, giving Larry, who had started the previous 16 games as the designated hitter, the opportunity to start in the field again at his natural position. Since returning to the defensive lineup, Larry is 4-for-7 at the plate with three home runs, five runs batted in and five runs scored.

“That may be part of the reason. I’m sure he would tell me that, (as) the guy who makes out the lineup card,” Bulldogs head coach Chris Lemonis said. “There’s nobody who works as hard as Amani in our program. He’s a wonderful kid and he’s a really good baseball player. This game is tough. It’s fun to see him reap some of those rewards.”

Larry provided more than enough run support for sophomore Jurrangelo Cijntje, who held the Tigers to just three hits — two of them solo homers — over seven strong innings, striking out nine and issuing just one walk.

Cijntje struck out five batters in a row at one point, and while his fastball was sharp, sitting in the range of 95-96 miles per hour for most of the game, his secondary pitches were the key to his outing. A year after finishing the season with an 8.10 ERA in 50 innings, Cijntje improved to 8-1 with a 3.48 ERA over 77 2/3 innings, striking out 3.5 batters for every walk and holding opponents to a .204 average.

“I almost wonder, was he throwing a cutter? It was so hard early. It was 90-91 (mph) a lot,” Lemonis said. “A couple weeks ago, he was using the curveball a lot. But it’s just what he feels some days in the bullpen. The slider was really good today, and his changeup. When he has his changeup, it’s really tough to hit him.”

Hunter Hines opened the scoring with a leadoff home run in the second inning, a blast that left the bat at 114 miles per hour and landed 416 feet away from home plate. It was Hines’ 15th long ball of the year, 12 of which have come in Southeastern Conference play.

Trevor Austin evened the score with a solo shot in the fourth after Cijntje had retired the first 10 batters of the game, but MSU (36-18, 17-12 SEC) retook the lead, for good this time, in the bottom of the inning. Hines walked and Larry singled with one out, and Logan Kohler beat the shift for an opposite-field single to bring in Hines. Joe Powell’s sacrifice fly to left then brought home Larry.

The Bulldogs broke the game open an inning later, taking advantage of two errors on one play by Missouri’s second baseman that put runners at the corners with nobody out. Dakota Jordan’s second double of the game drove in Bryce Chance, and two batters later, Larry launched a three-run shot into the lounge in left to put MSU on top 7-1.

Cijntje made one more mistake when Matt Garcia tagged him for a leadoff homer in the seventh, but he retired the next three men he faced to end his day after 95 pitches.

“Sometimes it’s just late in the game, you’ll hang a breaking ball or something,” Cijntje said. “You just have to keep your composure and stay locked in and don’t let that determine your outing.”

Larry led off the eighth with his second home run, completing his second multi-homer game in a Bulldogs uniform. He hit two on May 18 of last year, including a walk-off blast in the ninth, in a 10-8 win over Texas A&M.

MSU has won every home series in conference play and will go for its second SEC sweep of the year Saturday. The Bulldogs enter the day tied with Georgia for fifth place in the conference standings, though they do own the tiebreaker thanks to a series win back in early April.

“We’re still playing for seeding, for hosting, for all those type of things,” Lemonis said. “This league, it’s just so hard. That’s why you see a lot of teams get two and give back one. They’re locked in. They know how big (Saturday’s) game is and they’ll be ready to go.”

Mississippi State Baseball MSU

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Mississippi

The Morning Bell: Saturday, May 18, 2024: Mississippi State Teams All Victorious

Published

16 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Press Room

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State fans had plenty to celebrate Friday and could have even more to celebrate on Saturday.

The Bulldog baseball and softball teams both won their Friday games, with the softball team beginning the NCAA tournament on a high note. At the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship, the Bulldogs ended the first round inside the top 10.

All three teams have are in action again Saturday and could give MSU fans more opportunities to ring their cowbells.

Baseball: No. 16 Mississippi State vs. Missouri, 2 p.m. Saturday

Softball: No. 18 Mississippi State vs. winner of No. 8 Stanford/St. Mary’s NCAA Regional game, 4 p.m. Saturday

Women’s Golf: NCAA Championship Tournament at Carlsbad, Calif.

Baseball: No. 16 Mississippi State 8, Missouri 2

Softball: No. 18 Mississippi State 1, Cal State Fullerton 0

Women’s Golf: T-9th Place after 1st round of NCAA Championship

Mississippi State’s women’s golf team ended the first round of the NCAA Championship Tournament in a three-way tie for ninth place at 1-under par for the tournament, along with Oklahoma State and Florida State. Surapa Janthamunee had the best day for MSU with a 2-under, 71 and Julia Lopez Ramirez and Chiara Horder finished at even (72) for the day.

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