The banquet started a while later and featured a high-profile recipient of an award: Gov. Phil Bryant. Bryant was a Sons of Confederate Veterans dues-paying member, but he was honored at the annual Gov. John J. Pettus Heritage award. “We are an organization that promotes the true Southern history and we wanted to honour Gov. Jeff Barnes, the leader of the Mississippi Division of Sons of Confederate Veterans, said Bryant was a key player in that effort. “Really, it is for Confederate Heritage Month proclamations. Since 2012, Bryant has signed proclamations declaring April “Confederate Heritage Month”. These proclamations continue a tradition that was started by former Gov. Kirk Fordice was a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in 1993, when Mississippi recognized Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Fordice was also a Sons of Confederate Veterans member. This group is responsible for Mississippi’s Civil War cemeteries, Confederate monuments, and helping people trace their genealogy. The group has been active in supporting a ballot initiative to secure the state’s current flag, which is the only one in the country to contain the Confederate battle emblem, in the state constitution. Bryant is a member of Sons of Confederate Veterans’ Rankin County Lowry Rifles Camp #1740. That membership makes him the most prominent sitting public official in the United States who is a known member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks the SCV and similar Confederate-affiliated groups. Bryant has not commented on his membership in this group. Mississippi Today also asked his office about the award. Bryant doesn’t attend regular meetings but his dues have been paid and his membership status remains current,” Marc Allen (Mississippi SCV public affairs officer, and member of the same chapter) said last year. “Gov. Bryant, like many Mississippians, has Confederate ancestors. This is one way that we can honor and respect American veterans.” Bryant’s state-issued SUV, which has a state flag license plate on the front, has been pointing back to the 2001 referendum, in which nearly two-to-one Mississippi voters voted to retain the current state flag. Bryant stated in 2017 that Mississippi voters should decide what the state flag is. Bryant received the award at Beauvior, the Biloxi residence of Jefferson Davis, on June 9. It honored many of the group’s members with various awards including the Col. William H. Moore Recruiter of the Year and the Gen. Nathaniel Bedford Forrest Compatriot of the Year Awards. Bryant was named after the Mississippi governor. John J. Pettus was the governor of Mississippi between 1859-1863. Pettus, a staunch secessionist was the governor that led Mississippi out of the United States of America into the Confederacy. David Sansing (Mississippi historian) wrote about Pettus in 2016. He wrote “Mississippi governors: Soldiers Statemen Scholars Scoundrels” in 2016. A couple color guard members carried rifles. “It’s an honour he (Gov. “It’s an honor he (Gov. Bryant) would join our group, and it was a pleasure to honor him last weekend,” Barnes stated.