Earlier this week, the leaders of Oktibbeha County had the courage that we can only hope state lawmakers can muster.

The county, which contains the City of Starkville, voted to remove the Mississippi state flag from all county buildings.

At last check state leaders, or at least the most vocal and most powerful ones, still took one of two lines of thinking on the flag.

One group suggests the matter is closed. They content the referendum from 2001 in which the idea of changing the existing flag was overwhelmingly shot down, proves the flag should be a permanent fixture.

The second group suggests the state should put the matter on the ballot of the next election, effectively to shut up the vocal contingent that can see how much the flag issue can harm the state’s future.

Neither approach is wise.

What needs to happen is for lawmakers to realize Mississippians vote for them to do what is best for the state, not necessarily only what is politically popular.

Continuing to drape the state in a symbol that has become corrupted by hate groups will only continue to keep Mississippi a joke in the mind of many others in the nation and the world.

A public vote on the flag issue would likely yield similar results to the 2001 vote. If that were to happen it would only worsen the stigma Mississippi faces by reminding people just how backward we can be.

But then again, if we took public matters to a popular vote, we expect the great majority would vote to eliminate all state taxes, cut lawmakers’ pay and likely allow discrimination again.

Doing what is right isn’t always popular and it takes guts to stand up for what is right in the face of criticism. Let’s hope a few lawmakers have guts.