Today, the Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Congressman Cedric L. Richmond (D-LA) and Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), announced the CBC’s intent to file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of the United States in support of the forthcoming petition for certiorari in Moore v Bryant.
“Since its creation, the Confederate battle emblem has been used as a symbol of white supremacy throughout the United States,” said Richmond. “Every day, African-Americans in Mississippi are forced to walk into schools, courtrooms, and public buildings that brazenly display the symbol of a movement that sought to keep slavery legal in the United States and which continues to be used to promote discrimination. The CBC is eager to file the amicus brief in support of the petitioner’s effort.
“I support the members of the Mississippi Black Legislative Caucus who have decided to boycott the upcoming Southern Legislative Conference due to a lack of action by their colleagues to address the discriminatory state flag,” said Thompson. “These legislators should be commended for their steadfast commitment to removing a symbol of hate from our state flag.”
Mississippi resident and attorney Mr. Carlos Moore alleges that Mississippi violated his constitutional right to equal protection of the laws by incorporating the Confederate battle emblem into its official flag and thereby declaring the inferior status of the State’s black citizens. He contends that this government message continues to deny him “equal treatment and dignity under the law” with the incorporation of the Confederate battle emblem into its flag because it symbolizes the State’s endorsement of the oppressive regime that enslaved and brutalized his ancestors, endorses the notion that its white citizens are superior to its black citizens, and represents a declaration that he lives and works as a second-class citizen of Mississippi because of his race. The CBC’s Amicus brief will be filed by July 31, 2017.
