Mississippi

I was in school at Ole Miss when they made the big push to get rid of the flag. I was happy to see it go, though the alumni were pissed. You still see a few attention-seeking girls wearing rebel flag skirts to games.

 

To be honest, Led, I can't recall seing any of those, either.

 

Good.

NY Times had a nice article about the Grove last week:
http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/travel/escapes/29grove.html?ei=5090&en=a517118aa8c07072&ex=1317182400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

 

Ready for a rematch over here, boss.

 

A native of Mississippi I am.
Have worked at several papers in this wonderful splinter of the US of A
None of those editors or publishers I worked for ever screamed from our pages that we should not pave the roads, or not have the best technology, or that we should have biased courts and crappy elected officials to run our local governments.
There is strength in numbers, and most towns of any size here have an open-minded populous.
When you pull together any large number of people for a sampling, our state is the same as most any other in the country.
If you venture to the backwoods and rural areas, you might see some trashy representation of what you think Mississippi is.
But you will also see some good, hard-working people among that grouping.
Same holds true for California or West Virginia or wherever.
One poster on this board has "Fuck Mississippi" in her signature.
Well, we in Mississippi say "Fuck Her", but we also invite her to come and enjoy what our state has to offer.
Another male poster seems to jump up and down and beat his chest about how bad MSU basketball cheats at this or that.
He's envious, I think, that the team he covers can't beat the Bulldogs on the hardwood.
State (but no other college program) simply has to be cheating.
And the person who added, just a few posts into this topic, that "this thread wouldn't end well"
Fuck that attitude, too. And BTW, that's a poor prediction, once you look at how the thread has gone.
But it's par for the course on this board. Folks with little knowledge on subjects often like to chime in and be crass and cute, while also padding their post count.

Do I enjoy driving through the Mississippi Delta on a rainy night and seeing frogs hop across the highway? You bet.
Am I proud of the stains left by Emmitt Till, Freedom Summer, the KKK or James Meredith's entry to Ole Miss. No way.
Have there been bad habits handed down from parents to kids here over a 50-year period? Sadly, yes.
Have we moved on in positive direction since then? Why certainly.
Do we have a long way to go? The country as a whole does.
Do I love the fact that MSU and Ole Miss continue to play the Citadels, the Tulanes, the Memphis's of the world but not Southern Mississippi at least once every 8-10 years? No.
Do I enjoy our burgeoning casino element. Hell yes.
Can I recognize our contribution to literature. Hell yes.
Can I drive to New Orleans or Memphis or Atlanta pretty quick from here if I have to. For sure.
Can I fly to New York from here. Easily
Do we have any pro sports teams? No way, and won't for a while I'm afraid. But neither will several other states.
The Mississippi I spend most of my time in is not a "Dukes of Hazzard" sort of place.
Sorry, Batman. It just ain't so.
We have good education in our lower and high schools for the most part and we graduate scholars from our colleges.
Most of us here don't want to be a separate country. The ones that do, we'll settle them down and keep asking them to get with the program.

 

It isn't?

 

And the North is where all the natural-born comedians are.

 

If you don't think the South is rising again, you aren't paying attention to demographic shifts and electoral politics. Republican or Democrat, the South and West will be deciding who is president and will elect a majority of the House of Representatives for the next century.

And Mississippi is a fine place, but it is what you make of it.

Last observation on North and South -- and I am enjoying living in the Northeast. My wife and children get followed around in stores here. People talk to them very slowly as if they expect them not to understand English. Didn't happen in the South.

 

Not sure why you referenced me in that last post, Blitz, since my intention was never to confirm the bad Mississippi stereotypes. Quite the opposite. Like I said, I've lived here for going on a decade and enjoyed it immensely. And since I'll be taking a native Mississippian as my bride soon, I'll be here for a good while longer.
When I mentioned the "overall-wearing hicks" I just meant to imply that's what outsiders tend to think of when they think of our fine state. You, I and anyone who's done more than drive through here know it's just not true, though.
Besides, the Dukes of Hazzard took place in Georgia. We all know they're a bunch of backwoods rejects

 

years ago when i was still in the business i had a job interview at a paper in mississippi. i read the book "courting of marcus dupree" so i could learn about the history of the state and also bone up on the history of football there. it's a terrific book. i think i found mine used on line for about $5.

mississippi also produces a disproportionately high number of professional athletes as compared with its population.

 

Maybe it's my background and where I have lived, but I couldn't imagine living in a state which doesn't have teams in any of the four major sports leagues or isn't right next to an area like that.

 

It does have the four major sports:

College football
High school football
Hunting
Fishing