Eugene Bryant is right. The president of the Mississippi NAACP on Tuesday described the debate over design of the state’s flag a &uot;hot potato.&uot;

&uot;No one really wants to handle it,” he said. &uot;They pass it on to the next hand, the next hand and on to the people of Mississippi … our state Legislature and our governor need to take a stand – don’t dodge, don’t duck, don’t put their heads in the sand.&uot;

And, while Bryant isn’t hesitant to go on record and predict that a statewide referendum will mandate a new state flag, we’re not so confident.

This is a highly charged emotional issue. Supporters of the flag’s design say the Confederate battle emblem is a tribute to Confederate soldiers and the state’s history; to many blacks, it’s a slap in the face that reminds them of a past which includes slavery and racial discrimination.

And as lawmakers hastily work through the motions of setting a statewide vote on the flag’s design – most likely for April 17 – we find ourselves wondering what they will have to say on April 18 if that vote fails to produce a majority’s support for changing the flag.

While the people of Mississippi deserve a chance to voice their opinions on the flag’s design, those people also deserve an opportunity to hear the opinions of the lawmakers and governor they elected to serve this state.

And, if the voters’ chance to voice their opinions results only deepens the divide in our state, we deserve elected officials who can – and will – lead us beyond this point.

&uot;Hot potato&uot; or not, our lawmakers and our governor owe it to Mississippi’s voters to take a stand on the flag design issue.