New Flag Needed to Overcome Image Problem
By Brother Rogers
Mississippi has a serious image problem. Adopting a new state flag would go a long way toward changing the national perception of our state from negative to positive.
A lot of people who live outside the state of Mississippi don’t have a particularly high opinion about our state and its citizens—that is, you and me. Many who live up North or out West have an image of us as backward and racist.
Closer to home, we’ve all heard those in neighboring states say, “Thank God for Mississippi.” What they mean is that they – Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee – would be at the bottom of the ladder on a host of social and economic indicators, except for Mississippi. “We may be bad, but Mississippi is even worse,” they say.
Who cares if these people outside our state have a negative perception of us? Who cares if they don’t know the real Mississippi because they believe the stereotypes perpetuated by Hollywood and the media?
I care because I am proud to be from Mississippi. This is my home, and my family has been here since the days of Andrew Jackson. I care because I don’t want my children to grow up having to be defensive about the wonderful place of their birth. I also want our economy to progress so that my children won’t have to leave the state to achieve their highest potential.
There is a link between image and economic development. You would not give a prospective employer a handwritten résumé on lined notebook paper. It would present a bad image of you. Likewise, Mississippi’s poor image hurts our prospects with potential employers, especially those with high-paying jobs. Our image puts us at a competitive disadvantage.
Why does a new state flag matter? It matters because the citizens of Mississippi, by adopting a new state flag, will send a strong, positive message around the nation about our state. It will confound the media and other critics who have predicted that we are incapable of doing the right thing. They are waiting to say, “I told you so.”
If Mississippi adopts a new state flag on April 17, the headlines the next day on the front pages of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers from coast to coast will announce to the nation that Mississippi has a new image that reflects the new reality here.
The positive publicity we would receive from voting on April 17 to adopt a new flag is more, much more, than a multi-million dollar public relations campaign could achieve with television ads running in prime time. We citizens have within our power the chance to let the world know that we are not the racist, backward society portrayed by others.
Mississippi has a national image problem, and we all know it. It hurts personally. It hurts economically, and if we don’t change it, it will hurt the next generation as well. On April 17 we can reinforce our negative image by supporting the old flag or we can take a giant step toward improving Mississippi’s reputation by voting for a new flag. The nation will be watching.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and assistant director of the Stennis Center for Public Service.
Mississippi has a serious image problem. Adopting a new state flag would go a long way toward changing the national perception of our state from negative to positive.
A lot of people who live outside the state of Mississippi don’t have a particularly high opinion about our state and its citizens—that is, you and me. Many who live up North or out West have an image of us as backward and racist.
Closer to home, we’ve all heard those in neighboring states say, “Thank God for Mississippi.” What they mean is that they – Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee – would be at the bottom of the ladder on a host of social and economic indicators, except for Mississippi. “We may be bad, but Mississippi is even worse,” they say.
Who cares if these people outside our state have a negative perception of us? Who cares if they don’t know the real Mississippi because they believe the stereotypes perpetuated by Hollywood and the media?
I care because I am proud to be from Mississippi. This is my home, and my family has been here since the days of Andrew Jackson. I care because I don’t want my children to grow up having to be defensive about the wonderful place of their birth. I also want our economy to progress so that my children won’t have to leave the state to achieve their highest potential.
There is a link between image and economic development. You would not give a prospective employer a handwritten résumé on lined notebook paper. It would present a bad image of you. Likewise, Mississippi’s poor image hurts our prospects with potential employers, especially those with high-paying jobs. Our image puts us at a competitive disadvantage.
Why does a new state flag matter? It matters because the citizens of Mississippi, by adopting a new state flag, will send a strong, positive message around the nation about our state. It will confound the media and other critics who have predicted that we are incapable of doing the right thing. They are waiting to say, “I told you so.”
If Mississippi adopts a new state flag on April 17, the headlines the next day on the front pages of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers from coast to coast will announce to the nation that Mississippi has a new image that reflects the new reality here.
The positive publicity we would receive from voting on April 17 to adopt a new flag is more, much more, than a multi-million dollar public relations campaign could achieve with television ads running in prime time. We citizens have within our power the chance to let the world know that we are not the racist, backward society portrayed by others.
Mississippi has a national image problem, and we all know it. It hurts personally. It hurts economically, and if we don’t change it, it will hurt the next generation as well. On April 17 we can reinforce our negative image by supporting the old flag or we can take a giant step toward improving Mississippi’s reputation by voting for a new flag. The nation will be watching.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and assistant director of the Stennis Center for Public Service.