<p>Lawmakers in Mississippi voted Sunday to remove the Confederate battle standard from the state flag, after nationwide protests drew renewed attention to symbols of the United States' racist past.</p>.<p>The measure passed with a 91-23 majority vote in the House of Representatives, triggering cheers in the Senate gallery. A few hours later, the Senate voted 37-14 for the bill.</p>.<p>Democratic senator John Horhn said changing the flag was a "big step... in the journey we are on to recognize everybody's God-given humanity and self-worth."</p>.<p>Senators celebrated with cheers, hugs and fist-bumps.</p>.<p>Mississippi is the only American state to incorporate the Confederate standard on its official flag, after nearby Georgia dropped it in 2003.</p>.<p>The criss-crossed diagonal stars pattern was used by southern troops, including Mississippians, during the 1861-1865 American Civil War -- the bloody conflict that brought an end to slavery -- and for many it remains a symbol of the country's dark racial legacy.</p>.<p>The bill calls for a nine-member commission to design a new flag that does not use the Confederate standard and does include the phrase "In God, We Trust."</p>.<p>State residents would vote on the design in November. If they reject the new design, Mississippi will go without a state flag until a new design is approved.</p>.<p>Votes in both houses of the state's legislature followed weeks of mounting pressure and hours of impassioned debate.</p>.<p>"This is an opportunity for us to find a flag that's unifying for all Mississippians, and that's what we're going to do," House speaker Philip Gunn, a Republican, told cheering legislators, the Clarion Ledger newspaper reported.</p>.<p>Governor Tate Reeves, who had sought to side-step the debate, said Saturday that he would sign the bill into law.</p>.<p>Racial injustice has been the subject of a renewed and fiery national conversation in the US since the death in May of unarmed African-American man George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer.</p>.<p>His death ignited mass protests and civil unrest across the country that has also led to the destruction of statues of former Confederate military leaders.</p>.<p>Mississippi in 2001 voted overwhelmingly to retain its current flag, hailed by its defenders as a proud symbol of southern heritage and history.</p>.<p>"I know that when you walk into this building every day... I would guess that a lot don't even see that flag in the right corner up there," Edward Blackman, an African-American Democratic lawmaker, told colleagues during the debate Saturday.</p>.<p>"There's some of us who notice it every time we walk in here, and it's not a good feeling," he added.</p>.<p>The push to change the flag has grown dramatically in the past week. A star Mississippi State University football player tweeted, "Either change the flag or I won't be representing this State anymore."</p>.<p>"I meant that," senior running back Kylin Hill, who is African-American, added. "I'm tired."</p>.<p>The day after Hill's tweet, the powerful Mississippi Baptist Convention, an association of the state's Baptist churches, called to change the flag's design.</p>.<p>As a groundswell of support grew, they were soon joined by state associations of real estate agents, bankers, educators and manufacturers.</p>.<p>Athletic directors and coaches from Mississippi universities have also urged lawmakers to act.</p>.<p>"I understand many view the current flag as a symbol of heritage and Southern pride," country music star Faith Hill, a Mississippi native, tweeted. "But we have to realize that this flag is a direct symbol of terror for our black brothers and sisters."</p>.<p>But Governor Reeves warned Saturday that changing the flag would not end racism or end divisions in his state.</p>.<p>Bringing the state together, he wrote on Twitter, "will be harder than recovering from tornadoes, harder than historic floods... even harder than battling the Coronavirus."</p>.<p>With debate raging across the US, NASCAR this month banned the display of the Confederate flag at its car racing events. The flag had previously been a common sight at races, particularly in its southern US heartland.</p>.<p>"No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race. So it starts with Confederate flags. Get them out of here. They have no place for them," said trailblazing African-American NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace.</p>.<p>Protesters have also begun tearing down statues of Confederate generals and pro-slavery leaders, prompting harsh criticism and threats of prosecution from President Donald Trump.</p>.<p>But some cities have opted to reevaluate and remove controversial statues. New York City is to remove a statue of former president Theodore Roosevelt, long criticised as a racist and colonialist symbol.</p>
<p>Lawmakers in Mississippi voted Sunday to remove the Confederate battle standard from the state flag, after nationwide protests drew renewed attention to symbols of the United States' racist past.</p>.<p>The measure passed with a 91-23 majority vote in the House of Representatives, triggering cheers in the Senate gallery. A few hours later, the Senate voted 37-14 for the bill.</p>.<p>Democratic senator John Horhn said changing the flag was a "big step... in the journey we are on to recognize everybody's God-given humanity and self-worth."</p>.<p>Senators celebrated with cheers, hugs and fist-bumps.</p>.<p>Mississippi is the only American state to incorporate the Confederate standard on its official flag, after nearby Georgia dropped it in 2003.</p>.<p>The criss-crossed diagonal stars pattern was used by southern troops, including Mississippians, during the 1861-1865 American Civil War -- the bloody conflict that brought an end to slavery -- and for many it remains a symbol of the country's dark racial legacy.</p>.<p>The bill calls for a nine-member commission to design a new flag that does not use the Confederate standard and does include the phrase "In God, We Trust."</p>.<p>State residents would vote on the design in November. If they reject the new design, Mississippi will go without a state flag until a new design is approved.</p>.<p>Votes in both houses of the state's legislature followed weeks of mounting pressure and hours of impassioned debate.</p>.<p>"This is an opportunity for us to find a flag that's unifying for all Mississippians, and that's what we're going to do," House speaker Philip Gunn, a Republican, told cheering legislators, the Clarion Ledger newspaper reported.</p>.<p>Governor Tate Reeves, who had sought to side-step the debate, said Saturday that he would sign the bill into law.</p>.<p>Racial injustice has been the subject of a renewed and fiery national conversation in the US since the death in May of unarmed African-American man George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer.</p>.<p>His death ignited mass protests and civil unrest across the country that has also led to the destruction of statues of former Confederate military leaders.</p>.<p>Mississippi in 2001 voted overwhelmingly to retain its current flag, hailed by its defenders as a proud symbol of southern heritage and history.</p>.<p>"I know that when you walk into this building every day... I would guess that a lot don't even see that flag in the right corner up there," Edward Blackman, an African-American Democratic lawmaker, told colleagues during the debate Saturday.</p>.<p>"There's some of us who notice it every time we walk in here, and it's not a good feeling," he added.</p>.<p>The push to change the flag has grown dramatically in the past week. A star Mississippi State University football player tweeted, "Either change the flag or I won't be representing this State anymore."</p>.<p>"I meant that," senior running back Kylin Hill, who is African-American, added. "I'm tired."</p>.<p>The day after Hill's tweet, the powerful Mississippi Baptist Convention, an association of the state's Baptist churches, called to change the flag's design.</p>.<p>As a groundswell of support grew, they were soon joined by state associations of real estate agents, bankers, educators and manufacturers.</p>.<p>Athletic directors and coaches from Mississippi universities have also urged lawmakers to act.</p>.<p>"I understand many view the current flag as a symbol of heritage and Southern pride," country music star Faith Hill, a Mississippi native, tweeted. "But we have to realize that this flag is a direct symbol of terror for our black brothers and sisters."</p>.<p>But Governor Reeves warned Saturday that changing the flag would not end racism or end divisions in his state.</p>.<p>Bringing the state together, he wrote on Twitter, "will be harder than recovering from tornadoes, harder than historic floods... even harder than battling the Coronavirus."</p>.<p>With debate raging across the US, NASCAR this month banned the display of the Confederate flag at its car racing events. The flag had previously been a common sight at races, particularly in its southern US heartland.</p>.<p>"No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race. So it starts with Confederate flags. Get them out of here. They have no place for them," said trailblazing African-American NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace.</p>.<p>Protesters have also begun tearing down statues of Confederate generals and pro-slavery leaders, prompting harsh criticism and threats of prosecution from President Donald Trump.</p>.<p>But some cities have opted to reevaluate and remove controversial statues. New York City is to remove a statue of former president Theodore Roosevelt, long criticised as a racist and colonialist symbol.</p>