A flag is meant to represent and unify the people for whom it flies.
The American flag is a symbol that all Americans can use as a symbol of identity.
The same cannot be said of the Mississippi flag. The flag of Mississippi features a square-shaped Confederate flag in the top left corner, and for that reason the flag cannot be seen as a symbol of unity and identity for all Mississippians.
The Confederate flag has a long and dirty history.
There is actually an aspect of the flag’s history that is even more racist than the motives for the Civil War, but for some reason has not been discussed in recent debates.
The Dixiecrat party adopted the confederate flag as their symbol. This party was devoted to keeping society segregated and was a strong opponent of Truman’s proposal of anti-discrimination and anti-lynching laws. Although this party lasted for less than a year, they branded the Confederate flag as a symbol to oppose integration.
The Confederate flag was soon being waved by everyone who wanted to keep segragation and white supremacy alive. In 1948, the Dixiecrats and white supremacists solidified and intensified that racist meaning of the Confederate flag.
We as a university realized in 1997 that flying the Confederate flag on campus does not represent the values that we embody.
So why is it that we fly the state flag, which has the same exact racist imagery of the Confederate flag?
The Mississippi flag does not represent what Mississippi is today.
The current flag represents the Mississippi of the past— the Mississippi filled with hate and racism. The Mississippi flag does not represent all the progress we have made as a state. It doesn’t even represent the modern day Mississippian. Most importantly, the flag does not represent Mississippi as a whole; the flag represents the white population of Mississippi.
The flag needs to be changed to a flag that actually represents Mississippi for all its great accomplishments and not its dark past, but that won’t happen for a while under a government that refuses to recognize the Confederate flag as a symbol of hate.
Until then, I think the University should do the right thing and take down the flag to show the students that everyone is welcomed and valued, that the University of Mississippi will not be held down by our struggles in the past.
