The County of Orange is dumping Mississippi’s Confederate flag at the Civic Center

Supervisor Todd Spitzer Announces Plan to Place OC City and Military Flags at the OC Civic Center

By: Todd Spitzer, Chairman of the O.C. Board of Supervisors

This week at the Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Spitzer requested that the County members of the Civic Center Joint Power Authority seek to replace the 50 state flags in the Plaza of the Flags with the flags of Orange County’s 34 cities, the County flag, the State flag, the U.S. flag, and the flags of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

The request was made by Supervisor Spitzer to remove the Confederate Flag from flying in the Civic Center and to help build unity amongst the County and the cities. The Confederate Flag is currently part of the flag of the State of Mississippi. To many, the Confederate Flag represents one of the darkest and most shameful eras in the history of our country.

The Mississippi Legislature added the Confederate Flag to their state flag in 1894, and in a 2001 referendum, 64% of Mississippi voters rejected removing the Confederate Flag from their state flag.

In 2001, the Georgia Legislature shrunk the Confederate Flag from dominating two-thirds of their state flag down to a tiny barely visible box on a stripe featuring all their former state flags. Then in 2003, 73% of Georgia voters removed the Confederate Flag entirely.

Unlike the people of Georgia, the people of Mississippi have chosen to keep the Confederate Flag in their state flag and have it flown throughout their state.

“We in Orange County, California, may not be able to change the minds of the people and leaders of Mississippi, but that doesn’t mean we need to be displaying their flag,” said Supervisor Todd Spitzer.

Two weeks ago, the South Carolina’s Republican Legislature and the Republican Governor Nikki Haley voted to remove the Confederate Flag from the State Capitol after it had flown there for 54 years.

Unlike the leaders of South Carolina who removed the Confederate Flag in front of their State Capitol, the leaders of Mississippi have chosen to keep the Confederate Flag in their state flag and have it flown throughout their state.

###