Connecticut is sixth US state to end religious vaccine exemption
AP Connecticut will no longer allow a religious exemption from childhood immunization requirements for schools, colleges and day care facilities, becoming the sixth state to end that policy. The legislation was signed into law Wednesday by Governor Ned Lamont, hours after the Democratic-controlled Senate passed the bill late Tuesday night. More than 2,000 opponents had rallied outside […]
At least 160 Confederate symbols taken down in US in 2020 – SPLC
New York City, US AP When rioters tore through the US Capitol last month, some of them gripping Confederate battle flags, they didn’t encounter a statue of the most famous rebel general, Robert E Lee. The Lee statue, which represented the state of Virginia as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection in the Capitol […]
Mississippi Governor signs law for flag without rebel emblem
Jackson, Mississippi, US AP Mississippi hoisted a new state flag without the Confederate battle emblem on Monday, just over six months after legislators retired the last state banner in the US that included the divisive rebel symbol. The new flag has a magnolia and the phrase, “In God We Trust”. Voters approved the design in […]
At the centre of the US ‘Bible Belt’, Mississippi churches face difficult decisions at Christmas
Ridgeland, Mississippi, US AP/Report for America It always feels special for Pastor Jay Richardson when his congregation at Highland Colony Baptist Church gathers during the holidays – but this year, that’s even more true because of time they’ve spent apart. The church temporarily shut down at the start of the pandemic, and again three months […]
Mississippi family sues school in ‘Jesus Loves Me’ mask ban
Jackson, Mississippi, USAP A Mississippi couple is suing a school district because they say their nine-year-old daughter was told she could not wear a mask with the phrase “Jesus Loves Me”. Their lawsuit accuses the Simpson County School District of discriminating against the third grader because she wants to express her religious beliefs. The district […]
US state of Mississippi approves flag with magnolia, “In God We Trust”
Jackson, Mississippi, US AP Mississippi will fly a new state flag with a magnolia and the phrase “In God We Trust”, with voters approving the design Tuesday. It replaces a Confederate-themed flag state lawmakers retired months ago as part of the national reckoning over racial injustice. The magnolia flag was the only design on the […]
The Long Read: Long after murders, Black voting is still troubled in Mississippi
With the US election looming, TIM SULLIVAN, of the Associated Press, reports on how, six decades on from the tumultuous 1960s, Black voters in the US state of Mississippi still face obstacles to voting…
Public ideas for Mississippi flag: Magnolias, stars, beer
Jackson, Mississippi, US AP Magnolias and stars. Crosses and guitars. Beer cans and crawfish. A Gulf Coast lighthouse. Elvis Presley and Kermit the Frog. All appear on proposals the general public submitted for a new Mississippi flag. Mississippi recently retired the last state banner with the Confederate battle emblem that’s widely condemned as racist. A nine-member commission […]
Some question replacing Mississippi’s Confederate symbol with ‘In God We Trust’
RNS Rev Isiac Jackson, Jr, was one of many Mississippi residents who took it as a spiritual victory when the state’s lawmakers voted on Sunday, 28th June, to remove the Confederate symbol from the state’s flag. “God answers prayer,” said Jackson, president of the General Missionary Baptist State Convention. “He may not come when you […]
In the US, Mississippi lawmakers vote to remove rebel emblem from flag
Jackson, Mississippi, US AP Mississippi will surrender the Confederate battle emblem from its state flag, more than a century after white supremacist legislators embedded it there a generation after the South lost the Civil War. Mississippi’s House and Senate voted in succession Sunday afternoon to retire the flag, with broad bipartisan support. Republican Governor Tate […]