Changing ocean tides is a fact of nature that we have long taken for granted. Ocean tides flow in and out. There are places where they vary greatly, such as in the Bay of Fundy where they roar in and out with an amazing ferocity. In Northern France on the English Channel, Mt. San Michel lies 600 meters from the shore. It is accessible by roadway during low tide and becomes an isolated island at high tide. In many places tidal changes are slow and subtle.
In human nature we experience changes in tides of thoughts and emotions. Sometimes these changes occur rapidly, as in political and historical occurrences that can lead from isolationism to globalization.
We have experienced changes in the tides of attitudes in our country that sometimes have us functioning alternately as liberals or conservatives and various gradations between the two extremes. Our approaches differ but the goal in the United States has always been a better, fairer society for all of our people.
Since the American Civil War, change has come slowly to Mississippi. We take great pride in those things that are dear to us; our love for each other and our hospitality to strangers are legendary. At the same time people from other parts of the country often hold negative impressions of us, some perhaps justifiable and some from ignorance.
We need to face the fact that there is justification for some of the negativism. We cherish "our heritage" while denying that our heritage includes the institution of slavery, an institution founded upon owning human beings. Despite the romantic though distorted picture of old Southern society so many cherish, the fact remains that slavery was, is, and always will be, evil. Some recent movies have documented the cruelty meted out to black slaves in the South. It is simply dishonest to deny the fact that the war was fought over the right to own human beings.
Today we are engaged in an ongoing effort to change our state flag due to the fact that it contains the confederate flag. One gets the impression that here the tide is changing. Cities have removed the state flag from their official positions. Universities have stopped displaying the flag. Some businesses have ceased to display it. Clearly the reason for the change is that the flag is offensive to 37 percent of our citizens. That is reason enough to have a flag that is representative of us all.
Our governor has taken the position that the issue should be decided by a statewide vote. It is quite obvious that with the distribution of white and black voters it is almost certain that a statewide vote would result in maintaining the present flag. Governor Bryant surely knows this so we must conclude that he does not wish to see the flag changed. His proclamation "let the people decide" is an obvious cop-out.
We have a legislature that is elected to serve us and it is reasonable that legislation be introduced in that body to create a new flag. There are known white elected officials who support a change, and surely it should be introduced by a white legislator. A bill to do so would provide the opportunity for the issue to be publicly debated. I believe an objective airing of the issue in the legislature would result in a change. I hope that such a bill will be introduced in the next session of our legislature. It is time to move forward and let the people of our state and the rest of the country know that the tide really is changing in Mississippi.
Dr. Thomas L. Ramsey, Madison, MS
