Notable Miss. Residents Call on State to Remove Confederate Emblem from Flag

Some notable residents of Mississippi are speaking out in an effort to have its state flag changed, arguing it bears too close a similarity to the Confederate Flag.

According to The Clarion Ledger, well-known Mississippi residents Morgan Freeman, author Kathryn Stockett and author John Grisham have called on the state to remove the Confederate symbol from its flag.

Mississippi is the only state that still has a Confederate symbol on a flag that flies at the statehouse.

Multiple notable Mississippians have signed a letter taken out in a full page advertisement in The Clarion Ledger calling on the state to change its flag.

"It is simply not fair, or honorable, to ask black Mississippians to attend schools, compete in athletic events, work in the public sector, serve in the National Guard, and go about their normal lives with a state flag that glorifies a war fought to keep their ancestors enslaved," the letter reads. "It's time for Mississippi to fly a flag for all its people."

As CBS Sports reports, both coaches of the Mississippi colleges in the SEC have also signed the letter, including Dan Mullen and Hugh Freeze.

According to ESPN, Freeze, coach of Ole Miss, has previously expressed his opposition to the flag, saying at an SEC event in July that he "[thinks] it's time that we move in a different direction."

Calls for the removal of the Confederate emblem come after South Carolina voted to remove the Confederate flag from their statehouse after over 50 years.