Time to go.
In a full-page ad in the Clarion-Ledger, famous and influential Mississippians ask that the state finally, at long last, remove the Confederate emblem from their flag.
"It is simply not fair, or honorable, to ask black Mississippians to attend schools, compete in athletic events, work in the public sector, serve in the National Guard, and go about their normal lives with a state flag that glorifies a war fought to keep their ancestors enslaved," the letter says. "It's time for Mississippi to fly a flag for all its people."
Former Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale and Mississippi business leader Jack Reed Sr. signed the letter. So did music legend Jimmy Buffett, former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Ford, Grammy-winning producer Glen Ballard, Basketball Hall of Famer Bailey Howell, former Gov. William Winter, baseball legend Boo Ferriss and a host of others.
The letter is signed also by John Grisham, Morgan Freeman, and quarterback Archie Manning.
With a governor and state legislature uninterested in taking up the issue, it seems clear that only widespread public outcry (and, probably more importantly, the irritation of the business community) might nudge the state into action. This open letter aims to be part of that effort.