Long dubbed the hospitality state, Mississippi’s state flag is anything but a hospitable welcome for many.

The flag conjures up images of a time when all men were not equal in Mississippi and the state officially sanctioned that distinction.

That was a time when black men, women and children were treated inhumanely, many killed, all because of their skin color.

Our state has a high percentage of people who claim themselves Christians, yet see no problem with a flag that — whether they like it or not — is aligned with images of hate.

Jesus said the second greatest commandment was to love one’s neighbor as yourself, so what does it say to the world when our state flag is emblazoned with hate?

From the Ku Klux Klan to the young man accused of slaughtering nine people recently in a South Carolina church, the symbol has been hijacked. But like the Nazi’s use of the swastika during their reign of terror, the genie cannot be put back in the bottle at this point.

Mississippi needs to move forward. We have many headwinds facing us — high poverty, low education, epidemic obesity. The last thing we need is another negative weight around our necks.

Sadly, a large share of Mississippi residents clutch tightly to the state’s outdated and racially tinctured flag.

Each finger gripping the flag represents one of the ignorant, futile excuses used to justify keeping the racist flag. It needs to go, as many have suggested, to a museum, not flying high over government buildings.

Anyone who truly loves Mississippi should realize that flag harms the state that we so deeply love.

Mississippi is better than this, and now is the time to prove it. Let’s change the flag and move Mississippi forward.