Confederate emblem removed at U.S. Capitol

WASHINGTON — State flags, including the controversial Mississippi flag featuring the Confederate battle emblem, will no longer hang in the tunnel at the U.S. Capitol where each had been displayed.

Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., said Thursday the flags, which had been removed during renovations, will instead be replaced with prints of each state’s commemorative coin.

“Given the controversy surrounding confederate imagery, I decided to install a new display,’’ Miller, chairwoman of the House Administration Committee, said in a statement. “I am well aware of how many Americans negatively view the Confederate flag, and, personally, I am very sympathetic to these views.  However, I also believe that it is not the business of the federal government to dictate what flag each state flies.’’

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Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., had called on Congress to remove all items bearing the Confederate battle flag, including his state flag.

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The flags had been displayed on the wall in the tunnel that runs between a House office building and the Capitol. Visitors and members of Congress travel between the office building and the Capitol by walking or taking small subway cars that go by the flags.

“I am pleased that the Architect of the Capitol will no longer display symbols of hatred and bigotry in the esteemed halls of the United States House of Representatives,’’ Thompson said in a statement. “As I said last summer, this is the People’s House and we should ensure that we, as an institution, refuse to condone symbols that seek to divide us.’’

The committee's move Thursday puts the spotlight back on the states, including Mississippi, where battles are brewing over whether to remove Confederate flags and statues from public places.

Last summer, Thompson urged Congress to hold a hearing on his resolution to remove items from House grounds that feature Confederate flag emblems. Democratic lawmakers, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., joined Thompson in the effort. But little happened.

Thompson, civil rights groups and others argue the Confederate flag is a symbol of racism and a reminder of the South's long history of segregation.

Some communities, towns and universities in Mississippi have removed the flag. Carlos Moore, an attorney from Mississippi, recently filed a lawsuit to remove it from public spaces.

Supporters of leaving the flag alone say it’s part of the South’s heritage. Supporters in Mississippi have held rallies. Gov. Phil Bryant, acting at the request of Sons of Confederate Veterans, recently proclaimed April as Confederate Heritage Month.

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A renewed national debate over the Confederate battle flag began last year when white gunman Dylann Roof allegedly shot nine people, all black, at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C. Roof had used the flag in promoting racist views.

South Carolina later removed a Confederate flag from its Capitol grounds.

Thompson said Mississippi state lawmakers should act.

"I can only hope that this understanding will somehow reach the hearts and minds of the elected officials in the state of Mississippi and they will follow suit and rid our state of this ultimate vestige of slavery and bigotry,” he said.

National attention has turned to the fight in Mississippi over whether to remove the emblem from the state flag. Mississippi state lawmakers have said voters should decide whether the flag should be changed.

Mississippi Republican Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker have said they think the flag should be changed, but said the decision should be left to the state.

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Miller said members of Congress can continue to display their state flags.

"This is the ‘People’s House’ where each congressional district sends their designated representative to be their voice in the halls of Congress,'' Miller said. "With that, it is common practice for each member of Congress to display their state flag, alongside of the American flag, outside their individual offices and in this way all state flags are displayed on Capitol Hill.''

Mississippi lawmakers still display the state flag outside their offices. Thompson doesn't.