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0190-07142015                                                                                                                          
07142015 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        
 
 
GOVERNOR MAPP ORDERS THE REMOVAL  
OF THE MISSISSIPPI STATE FLAG 
FROM BOTH VIRGIN ISLANDS NATIONAL GUARD ARMORIES 
 
 
 (St, Thomas, USVI –July, 13, 2015) Governor Kenneth E. Mapp has ordered General Renaldo 
Rivera, Adjutant General of Virgin Islands National Guard, to remove from the armories on St. 
Croix and on St. Thomas, the Mississippi State flag and turn it over to the Governor’s office for 
return to the state of Mississippi.  Nationally there has been much discussion and debate regarding 
the Confederate Flag, which most was removed from flying over the state capital of South 
Carolina.  
 
“While the Confederate Flag has its place in United States history, the negative affect that it has 
on people of color, particularly African-Americans, and its symbolism of hate, are the two things 
that many do not question.  The elected officials of the state of South Carolina have made their 
decision on the Confederate flag and have relegated it to a museum, where it belongs. The 
symbolism of hate that the Confederate flag represents has no place in a territory whose population 
is predominantly made up of people of African descent.  We are very hopeful that the elected 
leaders of Mississippi will come to a similar conclusion as their colleagues in South Carolina did 
and vote to remove the Confederate flag from flying above the state.” the Governor concluded.   
 
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