As of Tuesday morning, all state and city flags in Biloxi had been taken down.
Over the weekend, Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich learned that not all city buildings were complying with his previous request to only fly the U.S. flag. Gilich was made aware of the inconsistencies Saturday at a League of Women Voters and NAACP forum for political candidates.
“Some were flying the U.S. flag and the state flag and the city flag. You had just a hodgepodge of what was being done at city facilities, and now we have consistency…The U.S. Flag,” said Vincent Creel, Public Affairs Manager for the City of Biloxi.
The Confederate battle flag was adopted to be part of the state flag in 1894 and has become a controversial issue. Opponents of the flag often argue that it promotes oppression and divisiveness.
“We’re aware that some people maybe won’t agree with this decision. That’s the great thing about the U.S. flag, it protects their right to disagree with this decision,” said Creel.
Creel added that being a tourist town, the city has to be more sensitive towards what visitors think.
“We draw 5.7 million visitors a year. We don’t want to give anybody a reason not to come here.”
Creel emphasized that the city is also choosing not to fly the city flag, which has no controversial imagery.
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