Who has the best city in Mississippi to raise a family, good schools and diversity, Columbus or Hatiesburg?

Only people that have lived in these cities or know of good cities that describe this answer need to apply. I want to live in Mississippi and I have a family and I need a good school city and a diverse community because I'm african american.

Public Comments

1. I live near Columbus and I think it is a very nice town. I can't speak much about the specifics of the schools but I believe them to be above average for the state. Have been to Hattiesburg many times and have relatives there and I think Hattiesburg has a beautiful downtown area and would be a great place to live. Again, I would guess Hattiesburg will have better than average schools, being a town of over 50,000 they should attract and keep good teachers. Being a college town though, I would expect Hattiesburg to have a higher cost of living or at least more expensive real estate than Columbus. I did live in Grenada for 10 years and can say that Grenada has a very good public school system, their elementary schools have won numerous awards. Grenada is a relatively large town and is about half way between Jackson, MS and Memphis, TN so you could easily get to either of them if you wanted to spend a day shopping, etc. in a "big" city. Hope you don't mind the opinions on Columbus and Hattiesburg since I have never leived there but I would think I would enjoy living in either town.