Mayor Pat Patterson and the Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Tuesday to remove the Mississippi state flag from Oxford’s public buildings for a two-week period in anticipation of a more permanent decision at the group’s next meeting. Other cities that have removed the flag from public buildings in recent months include Jackson, Starkville, and Hattiesburg.
After Patterson and alderwomen Robyn Tannehill and Janice Antonow voiced their opposition to the state flag, the board heard a series of testimonies from residents on both sides of the issue.
Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jon Maynard advocated for the removal of the state flag. Maynard said the controversy behind its confederate symbolism deters business owners and entrepreneurs from participating in the state’s economy.
“When we go out to market the state of Mississippi, our flag, our history, does show,” Maynard said. “Will taking the flag down or changing the flag create a flood of jobs and companies into Mississippi? No. That’s not the way it’s going to be. But [the flag] doesn’t help.”
In her remarks on the flag, Tannehill proposed a resolution that would explicitly call for replacement of the current state flag by the Mississippi Legislature.
Following the testimonies, Patterson initially put forth a motion that the city display both the current state flag and its predecessor, which bears a Magnolia tree and has become an alternative flag for some Mississippians. Antonow then suggested an alternate motion that the city remove the state flag from public buildings and fly no flags for the time being, which passed unopposed.
Oxford resident Michael McMurray cautioned in his testimony against the use of what some call the “Magnolia Flag,” arguing that its history is largely misunderstood.
“It’s really about competing mythologies,” McMurray said. “The Magnolia Flag is actually the flag of secession.”
Mississippi’s first official state flag, the “Magnolia Flag,” was adopted in 1861 and remained the state banner until after the Civil War, when the Mississippi Legislature adopted the current flag. McMurray argued that the Confederate symbol within the “Magnolia Flag” made it an unsuitable replacement for the state’s current flag. While the current state flag contains the Confederate battle flag, the “Magnolia Flag” contains the first Confederate banner, a single white star on a blue background.
Oxford resident Joseph Marshall said the city’s refusal of a state symbol sets a dangerous precedent.
“This is no small matter,” Marshall said. “As a municipality, the city of Oxford is not just showing disrespect, but it’s showing contempt for the political and legal process that establishes and changes public policy in this state.”
