Jackson Free Press

The Jackson City Council wants the state to do away with its controversial flag.

Their unanimous support of Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes' vote comes at a time when many people—in Mississippi and around the country—are questioning the flag that depicts a Confederate battle standard in its canton.

For many, this canton symbolizes a painful history of violence, hatred and slavery in the state of Mississippi.

In 2002, rather than voting on changing the flag, state leaders punted on the issue and left it up to a statewide ballot question. In that referendum, people voted overwhelmingly to keep the flag.

Ward 4 Councilman De’Keither Stamps reminded the Jackson Free Press that just because the referendum didn’t change the flag, some municipalities like Jackson have since refused to fly the flag.

“We took the flag down in 2002,” Stamps said. “We did it when it was unpopular. When there was no fad. This resolution is just joining with other municipalities like Grenada.”

Stamps said that it was this refusal to fly the state flag following the referendum that led to the creation of Jackson’s city flag.

For some, resolutions like this seem to be symbolic in nature and not representative of any real change. Recently elected City Council President Melvin Priester Jr., of Ward 2, said that the ensuing discussion of systemic issues of race and class will mean great change for the state.

“What we are seeing right now is that there is a generation of southerners who are refusing to be browbeaten,” Priester said. “They are refusing to give up on Mississippi, and they’re staying. They’re fighting. They’re making this state what it truly can be—the best state it can be. That tide is not going away.

He continued: "This push to change the flag, I think, is so visceral and so intense for a lot of people because there is this reactionary force that has held the South back for so long. I think they see that this (resolution) is more than symbolic. They see that there really is a rejection of the past. We will finally stop having the false divisions that have hurt this state and benefited a small number of people.”

JFP readers are submitting their ideas for a new flag design, some more serious than others. See a gallery here and submit yours to [email protected] or use hashtag #msflagdiy on Twitter or Instagram.