Rebel Flag Protest in 22nd Day

A college senior spent his 22nd straight day Wednesday camped out on a Gulf Coast beach to protest the Confederate battle flag being flown in a nearby display.

Jason Whitfield, 21, is taking a peaceful stand against what he views as an emblem of hatred at the same location where some of the Deep South’s first civil rights protests were held. The beach now is a site where blacks and whites mingle to sunbathe and hold family reunions.

Whitfield, who is black and a student at traditionally black Alcorn State University, has left his sit-in only to take an occasional shower at his parents’ Gulfport home. He’s vowed to sit there until the flag comes down.

“I’ve learned more in three weeks than I’ve learned in the entire 21 years of my life,” he said Monday, sitting under a canopy in the 90-degree heat. “This is about more than a flag. It’s about spirituality. It’s about fearing God. I’m willing to stay here as long as it takes.”

Whitfield and others say their reasoning is simple: The 30-year-old, eight-banner display is supposed to fly the historical flags of the governments that have ruled this area, including the Confederacy. The Stars and Bars of the Confederacy, not the Rebel flag on display, is the correct banner, they say, and a historian hired by the county agrees.

The monument, a landmark along U.S. 90, is overseen by the County Board of Supervisors.

“They say the majority of their constituents support this flag,” said Whitfield. “Even if it were 99%, and 99% were wrong, I’d still be here.”

On Monday, the board reiterated its decision to keep the Rebel flag flying. The vote came two days after 500 people, including leaders of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People from across the South, held a rally in support of Whitfield.