Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said it may be time to consider even more changes to Georgia's state flag.
The ex-Georgia congressman told NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday that he joined with Democrats in 2001 calling for the Confederate battle emblem to be shrunk, and that it "may well be changed now that people are into a new cycle." But he also questioned the decision of major retailers to ban the sales of Confederate memorabilia, saying it's akin to erasing history.
Georgia's flag, adopted in 2003, is modeled after the first flag of the Confederate States of America, adding the state seal in the upper-left quadrant. But it removed all remnants of the battle emblem that had been featured on the flag since the 1950s.
Gingrich is the latest prominent voice to question symbols of Georgia's Confederate heritage in the wake of the murders of nine black worshippers at a Charleston church by a white man who told police he wanted to start a race war. Democrats are urging the state to quit celebrating Confederate Memorial Day and Confederate Heritage Month, and the state has stopped selling license plates with the battle emblem after Gov. Nathan Deal announced a "redesign" of the tags.
The New York Times has an engaging piece on the changing tides in the South, including this killer quote from Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley: "A flag is not worth a job." It is worth your time.
Here's the transcript :
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