Starkville on Tuesday joined other Mississippi cities choosing not to fly the state flag above municipal buildings, as aldermen voted 4-3 to lower the flag.
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 Alderman Jason Walker’s — the board’s fourth white member — swing vote that pushed forward the Ward 2 Alderman Lisa Wynn-led resolution.
“I’ve thought long and hard about this over the last 10 or so days — since we knew we had to make a decision,” Walker said. “A symbol is a symbol, and (Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn) is right: Changing the symbol … isn’t going to change who people are on the inside. At the end of the day, however, I think we have the opportunity … to write a new chapter. What is Mississippi going to look like going forward?”
Wynn called for the removal of the state flag from the city property after the June murders of African-American churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina. The first-term alderman noted how the accused shooter, Dylann Roof, associated himself with Confederate imagery and other divisive symbols.
Removing the state flag — which depicts the Confederate battle flag — would send a message of inclusiveness and equality, she said.
Numerous white business leaders, whom Wynn would not name, reached out to her and supported the flag’s removal, she said.
“I asked God the other day (to) show me, guide me and give me direction,” Wynn said. “I knew tonight that four aldermen — and I didn’t know who they were — (would support the resolution) based on one sentence: ‘God’s presence is more powerful than anyone’s power.’ You saw that tonight. God’s presence is more powerful than seven aldermen.”
Wynn’s motion was also supported by Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn and Vice Mayor Roy A. Perkins, who said Oktibbeha County voters’ supported a new flag in 2001’s statewide referendum.
The three aldermen who opposed the flag’s removal — Ward 1’s Ben Carver, Ward 3’s David Little and Ward 5’s Scott Maynard — acknowledged the issue’s divisiveness, but said it should be handled in Jackson by state lawmakers.
“It’s not the Starkville Board of Aldermen’s decision to choose what flag we fly. It’s up to the citizens of the great state of Mississippi, and I will not stand in their way,” Little said in reference to the 2001 referendum.
Carver also said he received calls from business leaders about the flag issue since Wynn made her intentions public, but some of those callers were “irate … from the other end of the spectrum” and said they’d leave town if the city removed it.
“I do think this is a knee-jerk reaction to what happened in South Carolina,” Carver said. “The bigger attack I see is not more or less on African-Americans but more an attack on Christianity. That he could sit in there for an hour … and then he gunned the pastor down. I think he’s probably one of the most psychotic individuals we’ll see in the U.S. That’s an in-state issue with South Carolina. The fact is Mississippi has about 297 municipalities. When we each collectively start addressing this, I don’t think that’s the best way.”
The board’s decision came after few public comments emerged either in favor or against the flag’s removal.
Only three residents — including Chris Taylor, the leader of the local NAACP chapter and Democratic Party — called for the flag’s removal, while only one explicitly said he was against the pending measure.
Columbus councilmen unanimously approved a similar flag-removing resolution last week.
West Point Mayor Robbie Robinson previously told The Dispatch his city has never flown the flag above city-owned properties.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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