Starkville government leaders support redesign of state flag in response to flag removal from city properties.
Following the vote to remove the Mississippi state flag in late January, government buildings in Starkville no longer display the controversial emblem. 
Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman said the primary reason behind the removal of the flag was the offensive element the flag initiated. 
  “I do think whenever possible we should avoid offending someone,” Wiseman said. “That’s the rationale that we’ve used to take down the flag.” 
District 3 Supervisor, Marvell Howard said in addition to avoiding offense, the flag’s removal was an effort to end negative racial tension in Mississippi. 
“[The state flag] was an issue that had become a distraction,” Howard said. 
   Howard said his vote in favor of the flag’s removal wasn’t for the purpose of ignoring history. Instead, it was to encourage Mississippi’s progress toward unity. 
 “We’re looking forward and moving forward,” he said.
The public’s response to the flag’s absence is one Howard hopes changes the overall perception of Mississippi. 
   “If there was a message [behind the removal], it’s that we’re not that Mississippi anymore,” he said. “We’re working hard to cast aside that image.”
   Howard said one way he hopes to shed the negative image Mississippi often receives nationally is through the redesign of the state flag.
   “[The redesign] would signify us being a brighter Mississippi,” he said.
Howard said redesigning the state flag would potentially benefit Mississippi by increasing economic development.
   “[A redesign] would signify to the industry that we’re open for business here,” he said. 
   Wiseman said a potential redesign is one that legislature would need to act upon. He said he looks forward to the day Mississippi can fly a flag that symbolizes unity rather than division. 
   Howard said his strides toward unity led to the construction of a diverse Race Relations Committee in Starkville to highlight the positives throughout the town. Howard said diversity is a key component in successful racial unity. 
   “[The Race Relations Committee] needs to be more than just diverse racially, we need to have a committee that doesn’t all think the same or believe the same,” he said. 
Howard said he challenges students at Mississippi State to research state history in an effort to further establish unity among Mississippians. 
Sophomore Biochemistry major, Hamsini Balaji, said the newfound symbolic freedom of the minorities gives rise to diversity. She said looking beyond race is the key to acceptance and equality.  
   “Only when you get to know [people] do you get to see their potential and how much they’re capable of,” Balaji said.