District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams said Oktibbeha County should join the trend of other county and municipal governments removing the Mississippi state flag from its properties.
Williams called upon fellow board members Tuesday to take up the issue this term and vote to remove a symbol he said makes many residents uncomfortable.
Supervisors were approached by Oktibbeha County NAACP President Chris Taylor last month, who asked the board to join Starkville aldermen and lower the flag from above government buildings.
The board took no action on the matter, citing Taylor’s advice to tackle the issue after the election.
Williams said the flag, which depicts a Confederate symbol, separates residents instead of uniting them.
“It really isn’t a good representation of Mississippi. Mississippi is beyond what that flag represents,” he said. “Every time we see something happen involving racism, the person is waving our flag. It makes me uncomfortable, and it makes other residents of Mississippi uncomfortable as well.
“We know the hardship people had to endure … as a result of being under the banner of the flag,” Williams added. “We are not the Mississippi of old. We are the Mississippi of new.”
In July, Starkville aldermen voted 4-3 to lower the flag from city-owned property. The vote mostly followed racial lines, as three African-American aldermen were deadlocked against three of the board’s four white representatives.
It was Ward 4 Jason Walker – the board’s fourth white alderman – who broke the tie that pushed forward the Ward 2 Alderman Lisa Wynn-led resolution.
Three of Oktibbeha County’s five supervisors – District 2’s Orlando Trainer, District 3’s Marvell Howard and Williams – are African-American.
Supervisors also noted how a flag vote could impact November’s general election.
Williams secured re-election in August’s Democratic Primary, as he does not have a Republican or Independent opponent in November; Howard and Trainer, both Democrats, face white opposition in the general election; while District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery, a Republican, and District 4 Supervisor Daniel Jackson, a Democrat, both face white opponents.
Williams said he hoped state lawmakers would decide the issue for the state as a whole but said supervisors should not leave the matter up to the incoming board.
Supervisors said they were unsure which election – the August primary or November general – Taylor meant with his August comments.
“If it’s so important to Chris, what does it matter if it happens before or after the election?” asked Jackson.
Traction for changing or removing the state flag began building amongst Mississippi municipalities this summer after the June murders of African-American churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina.
Since then, many boards – Columbus, Clarksdale, Grenada, Greenwood, Hattiesburg, Leflore County, Magnolia, Oxford, Starkville and others – have voted to stop flying the flag.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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