Some residents of the Mississippi town, Oceans Springs, have filed a lawsuit, attempting to ban the city from displaying the state flag, which they contend is ’racially demeaning.’ Filed Wednesday in federal court, the lawsuit argues that the state flag sends a message that African Americans are not welcome in the city because the Confederate battle emblem is depicted on it.
The lawsuit additionally alleges that the Fair Housing Act (FHA) would be violated if the state flag is flown, because the flag implies that white people are preferred in Ocean City. The FHA prohibits discrimination in the buying and renting process.
The lawsuit is not asking that the flag be removed throughout the state of Mississippi, just in Ocean Springs. Residents of Mississippi chose to keep the Confederate symbol in their state flag after a vote in 2001. In recent years, some cities and counties, as well as Mississippi public universities, have stopped flying the flag of their own volition.
See Mississippi Rising Coalition et al v. City of Ocean Springs, Mississippi on Justia Dockets
Additional Reading
Mississippi Residents Sue to Ban City From Displaying ‘Racially Demeaning’ State Flag
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