JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – State Representative Joshua Peters plans to sponsor a bill for the upcoming legislative session that would ban the display of the Confederate Battle Flag on all state and government funded building and grounds.
“Current State Law does not bar the flying of the Confederate flag on government funded property. We need to make it clear that the State of Missouri will not subject its citizens, or visitors, to a symbol of oppression, hatred, and racial intolerance,” said Peters, D-St. Louis City.
“Just one year ago, Sons of Confederate Veterans met with members of the Missouri General Assembly to lobby in favor of having the Confederate Battle Flag flown permanently at the Confederate Memorial Historic Site in Higginsville, MO. This site is maintained by the state,” added Peters.
“The flag was removed in 2003 by Executive Order of then Missouri Governor Bob Holden. Two years later, in 2005, Governor Matt Blunt ordered the Confederate flag to be flown at the site on Confederate Memorial Day (June 7th). To this day, the site displays the Confederate Battle Flag, along with other flags of the Confederacy, in what they call a flag plaza, on Confederate Memorial Day,” explained Peters.
Peters said he believes Confederate flags belong only in museums. He stated, “Modern reproduction Confederate flags do not need to be flown or displayed at publicly-owned and taxpayer-supported sites, nor trotted out by state employees in honor of a separate Confederate Memorial Day. As an alumnus of Lincoln University, which was founded by African American Civil War Veterans, the Confederate flag did and has come to symbolize racial intolerance and oppression. It is time to turn the page of history and prove our state has truly moved on.”
Representative Peters said his proposed State Law is needed so that a decision about whether or not to fly the Confederate Battle Flag is not left to the individual whim of future Governors.
Peters also added that he endorses the proposed name change of Confederate Drive in Forest Park by the City of St. Louis as well as Mayor Slay’s proposal to move the Confederate Memorial. He suggests that the city consider re-naming the street Emancipation Day Drive to help memorialize the abolition of slavery in Missouri on January 6, 1865. Peters said his reasoning is based on the fact the State Constitutional Convention met in St. Louis two years after Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
The legislative session begins January 6, 2016. For any questions, please contact Rep. Peters’ office at 573-751-7605.
