It’s only a matter of time before Mississippi’s flag will be replaced with something less offensive to a large segment of the state’s population. It’s going to happen, and the sooner the better.

One of the more significant voices that came out recently for changing the state flag is Andy Taggart, an attorney and GOP activist, who is urging his fellow Mississippi Republicans to take a leadership role in “the charge for the removal of the Confederate battle flag from our state flag.”

Taggart urged GOP officeholders at all levels, as well as Republican committees and organizations throughout the state, to join the effort. And, unlike some of the current GOP officeholders in Jackson — namely Gov. Phil Bryant and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves — Taggart is calling for his party, which dominates both the legislative and executive branches of state government, to handle this issue without punting it to a statewide referendum.

Taggart was chief of staff for Gov. Kirk Fordice during the 1990s and has since been a political commentator and author. He is the latest prominent Republican — joining House Speaker Philip Gunn and U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker and Thad Cochran — to call for a new state flag.

Taggart wants GOP lawmakers and state officials to lead the way during the 2018 legislative session “to strike the Confederate battle flag by statute.”

Let’s hope legislators are listening.

— The Greenwood Commonwealth