The city of Belleview is flying a Confederate flag at City Hall this week for "Confederate History Day."

  • Confederate flag flying at Belleview City Hall
  • City leaders: Wednesday ceremony not affiliated with Belleview

The flag will be raised to half-staff on Wednesday as part of a ceremony by a local chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Leaders of the city in Marion County say they have heard no complaints from residents who find the flag objectionable, and they have released a statement saying the ceremony is not affiliated with the city of Belleview.

The Confederate flag is offensive to many black Americans, and its presence at government buildings has been the subject of intense fights.

Meanwhile, Florida lawmakers are set to debate over a resolution that may further diminish the state's Confederate legacy on April 27. SCR 1360 would approve the replacement of the statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith in the National Statuary Hall collection with a statue of civil rights pioneer Mary McLeod Bethune.

The state donated the statue of General Kirby to the collection, housed at the Capitol Building in Washington D.C., in 1922.

Florida has already taken other steps to distance itself from its Confederate past. In 2015, the Confederate Battle Flag was removed from the state senate seal, and more recently took down a mural in the state capitol featuring the flag.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.