In response to the June 17 killing of nine African Americans in a South Carolina church, many leaders across the southern United States have advocated for the removal of the Confederate flag from public buildings. In a move that made headlines, Philip Gunn, the vocal speaker of the Mississippi State House of Representatives, joined other southern leaders and spoke out publicly against the Confederate symbol incorporated in the state flag, according to the Washington Post.
Mississippi cultural icons - author John Grisham, musician Jimmy Buffet and Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman - also joined in, speaking out against the Confederate flag and recommending that the symbol be removed from the state flag, according to CNN.
Constituent pressure, however, has quieted Gunn's initial opposition to the Confederate flag. Speaking at the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Miss., on Aug. 18, the politician appeared to back-peddle, noting that the opinions he expressed about the Confederate flag were his own. He also said that nothing could be done to change the state flag at the present because the legislature was not in session.
In a survey given to state legislators, 96 out of 184 respondants declined to give their opinion about removing the Confederate symbol from the state flag, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
Observers expect there to be no change to the Mississippi state flag any time soon.
