What’s wrong with this picture?

Of course, there is much that is wrong with the presence of the confederate flag on Mississippi’s State flag; however, this essay is intended to limit the discussion to pragmatic consequences rather than the obvious ethical/moral consequences of connecting this symbol to Mississippi.

Recently, I was explaining the notion of a directional test to the students in my Stats class. As is typical, when speaking about a variable with a known population mean and standard deviation, I was using IQ in my example. When it came to the directional tests, I explained a sample of college students should have a mean higher than the general population, because they are trained to perform better than average on some of things IQ tests measure (e.g., particular types of general knowledge, short-term memory span, and problem solving).

When it came time to sample a group of people whose mean should be less than the general population, people with a Confederate flag on their front license plate or the back windshield of their pickup truck jumped to mind. There was a brief discussion of the matter that ended, when my students agreed they have never seen such a license plate on our campus, a place known for people (students) whose IQs are clearly above average.

My wife and I have lived on the Gulf Coast for four years now. We have experienced a hurricane that took our home and everything in it, so I think we have earned the right to comment on all things “Mississippi” including the State flag and what is wrong with that picture.

For most of the people in the US it seems the Confederate flag is symbolic of the worst we, as a people, have to offer:

1. A tradition of hatred.

2. A tradition of ignorance.

3. A tradition of cowardly violence.

Of course, that is to be expected given the high probability that most people are introduced to Mississippi through the media (Mississippi Burning comes to mind). One would think a population linked to such cowardly, mean-spirited behavior would want to distance themselves as far as possible from such an unfortunate past. I know I felt different about the movie when I lived in California. There I had a sense of outrage. Here that outrage turns to sadness, guilt, and a feeling of helplessness/hopelessness.

Even in one of my favorite movies, O brother where art thou, people hiding under hooded sheets, the Confederate flag, and mean-spirited ignorance are all inextricably entwined in (where else) good Ole Mississippi.

My point is simply that it makes no difference what any one person or group believes a symbol should symbolize. If the nation’s collective conscious has already adopted a set of attributes, then that is what it symbolizes. Why would anyone want to be shrouded in hatred, ignorance, and cowardliness? I cannot understand what possible good can come of having such a symbol on our state flag.

Equally distressing to me as a teacher, however, is the fact that professors at the Universities in Mississippi have apparently had neither the will, nor the energy to take an enduring and pervasive stance against a symbol that insults all of their students (if not themselves). Rather, these professors march into their classrooms, as if there were no elephant hanging from the flagpole. Do professors have no responsibility to their students other than academics?

From a pragmatic perspective, if the confederate flag is a symbol of ignorance and Mississippi and its state universities are, in part, represented by such a symbol, what would be the probable effect of this symbol on Mississippi graduates’ chances for admission to graduate/professional schools in other parts of the country?

The overwhelming majority of my students work very hard in my courses. Why would anyone want to handicap such bright and hard-working students’ chances for success in life?

Vincent Stretch