NJ Democrat Governor Orders Removal of Mississippi Flag from State Park
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says Confederate symbol is 'reprehensible' and not 'inclusive'
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New Jersey's Democratic Governor Phil Murphy has ordered that the Mississippi flag, which includes a Confederate emblem, will be removed from the state park that overlooks the Statue of Liberty.
Murphy is a first-term Democrat and a self-styled progressive who regularly cited the Emma Lazarus poem at the statue's base that invites immigrants to America.
In a statement on Twitter, Murphy declared that the Confederate symbol on the state's flag is "reprehensible" and not "inclusive."
According to News Thud, Murphy ordered the removal of Mississippi’s flag from a display of each state’s flag at Liberty State Park, a preserve of more than 1,200 acres in Jersey City that overlooks Ellis Island and Lady Liberty.
New Jersey, he said, is rooted in diversity, and the flag doesn’t fit.
Today I ordered the Mississippi state flag be replaced by the American flag at Liberty State Park. The Confederate symbol does not reflect New Jersey’s values of inclusivity and equality.
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) April 26, 2019
Thank you @sandrabcunningh for your leadership in bringing this forward.
“The Confederate symbol displayed on the Mississippi state flag is reprehensible and does not reflect our values of inclusivity and equality,” he said in a statement.
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According to Fox News, Murphy ordered the flag removed from a state park Friday over the Confederate emblem that adorns it, as the nationwide debate rages over symbols honoring the antebellum South.
Murphy, a Democrat, ordered the flag be replaced with an American flag at Liberty State Park.
The park has traditionally flown the flags of all 50 states.
In response, Mississippi’s Republican Gov. Phil Bryant issued a statement Friday saying he was “disappointed in Gov. Murphy’s actions.
"As I have repeatedly said, the voters of Mississippi should decide what the state flag is or is not.”
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The Mississippi state flag features the Confederate symbol in the upper left corner and first appeared on the flag in 1894.
In 2001, Mississippi voters chose to keep the flag.
Murphy said he made the decision after Democratic state Sen. Sandra Cunningham raised the issue with him.
Cunningham said the flag “symbolized an era of hate, violence, and division," according to the North Jersey News.
Murphy is facing a recall effort over his progressive policies.
Petitioners have until March 2020 to collect nearly 1.5 million valid signatures to force a recall election.
