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Mississippi flag foes want court arguments on rebel symbol

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Some Mississippi residents are asking a federal court of appeals to fully consider their arguments that the state flag with the Confederate battle emblem represents white supremacy and sends a message that black people are not welcome.

Some black and white Ocean Springs residents filed papers Friday asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear oral arguments.

The plaintiffs are trying to revive their lawsuit that a district judge dismissed June 19.

The lawsuit, filed in April, calls the 1894 flag “racially demeaning and hostile.” It claims that by flying the flag, majority-white Ocean Springs engages in “racial steering” to exclude black people, violating the federal Fair Housing Act.

U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. said the plaintiffs didn’t prove they were treated unequally by the government.