Mississippians will soon vote to adopt the "In God We Trust" design as the new state flag. A commission voted this week for a flag design featuring a white magnolia. Scott Waller, with the Mississippi Economic Council, says the state does not have any fortune 500 companies, in part because the old flag contained symbols many deem as racist. He says the process of replacing the flag has already encouraged businesses to invest in the state.
"You've already seen Google, and they were looking very seriously, they were wanting to come to Mississippi but they knew that could be a problem. We've now seen an expansion of Amazon, they are planning on having a bigger presence with the announcement recently that they were looking at Madison County," says Waller. "I think all those things are really gonna start to change the dynamic of our economic development community."
Before legislators voted to remove the old state flag, the NCAA prohibited championship games in states with flags containing the Confederate battle emblem. Dennis Driscoll, Associate Athletic Director at Jackson State University, says he likes the proposed design and looks forward to JSU's teams proudly waving a new state flag when entering the field. "You want a flag that brings people together, and the new flag does that. It doesn't matter what skin color you are, what religious affiliation you are, it doesn't matter if you're from the Delta, Coast, city, it means one," says Driscoll. "And I know that at Jackson State University, we're going to be proud to fly that state flag."
The design still needs to be voted on for adoption, but the Economic Council says some businesses have already begun placing orders to fly the potential state flag outside their buildings.
