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Objective: This research tests whether psychological predispositions influence African Americans' emotional responses to Confederate battle symbols. The former Mississippi state flag is employed here because it contained the Confederate battle symbol in the left canton. Methods: The data were collected using a snowball sample of 68 African Americans from Jackson, the state capital of Mississippi. Emotional responses to the Mississippi state flag were measured using skin conductance levels (SCLs). Using ordinary least squares regression, the SCLs were regressed on variables measuring multiple dimensions of racial identity and ideology: Linked Fate, Private Regard, and Legal Disillusionment. Because of the significant presence of police officers in the sample, a dummy variable was included to account for this group. The study also controlled for the self‐reported Age of the participants. Results: The findings of this study reveal that African‐Americans suffer psychological trauma when observing racist symbols. African Americans who shared a common fate with other African Americans and those who possessed a high regard for other African‐American people were more emotionally responsive when they viewed the former Mississippi state flag. Police, however, were less responsive, when compared to civilians. This result may be attributable to officers working near the state capitol building and becoming desensitized to seeing the flag. Conclusion: In recent years there has been an increased interest among political scientists in the study of biopolitics. One of the shortcomings, however, is that the research has relied almost exclusively on white subjects. Our research helps to fill this gap by focusing exclusively on African Americans. We interpret the findings to suggest that African Americans do not uniformly respond to the flag but are unique individuals whose personal views and experiences shape how they respond to the world. Even when presented with symbols representing a horrid past of lynchings and terror, African Americans do not constitute a monolithic group. The removal of the Mississippi state flag establishes one of many historical markers in the states efforts to balance the scale of racial justice. Its removal also represents one less source of trauma for African‐Americans and a step toward racial healing for Mississippi and the nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1997, Harvey Johnson made history by becoming the first black to be elected as mayor of Jackson, Mississippi. Four years prior, Johnson failed to make the Democratic primary runoffs. The following research question is addressed: what explains Johnson’s victory in 1997, when compared to his defeat in 1993? In answering this question, I rely heavily on elite-level interviewing and newspaper accounts. I also examine the black and white vote for Johnson, using aggregate-level election and census data. Gary King’s Ecological Inference technique is used to examine these data. Based on the findings, I conclude that Johnson ran a deracialized campaign in 1993 and a racialized campaign in 1997. The deracialized campaign failed to attract white voters and attenuated his black support. In 1997, however, he was able to almost double his support from black voters. This increase can be attributed in part to his racialized campaign strategy. Lord have mercy! We’re going to have a black mayor in Jackson, Mississippi. —An anonymous black woman quoted in Chappell (1997 , 76) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]