Pandering Mississippi Columnist Rewrites His Own History to "Un-Vote" for Mississippi Flag

Madison County Journal columnist Brian Perry says that though he voted for the current Mississippi flag in 2001, that he would not vote for it now.

In order to shore up his history, he alleges he really wasn't sure about his vote in 2001.

• Looking back at my columns before and after the 2001 flag referendum, I recall I was truly an undecided voter. I was leaning toward the new flag option (despite finding the design unappealing) but ultimately decided to vote for the 1894 Flag.

There's a word for that kind of stuff. It's called pandering. Perry succumbs to the idea that if you attack inanimate objects then somehow you deal with racism, and doesn't want to appear that he was really too sure of the flag back then, in order to appear as less of the what he is labeling people who did and still do support the flag.

• My final thought at the time was we were told the 1894 Flag was offensive and a symbol of racism. If you agreed, you would vote for the new flag design; if you disagreed you would vote for the 1894 Flag. But, voting for the new flag meant casting an affirmative vote to enact legislation that would, among other things, make that hate filled banner "honored, protected and flown wherever historical flags are flown." It didn't make sense, I reasoned, to honor a racist flag and if it isn't racist, why not keep it?

He seems confused but went for the more popular sound bytes at the time and votes for the flag. Now, for fear of maybe becoming unpopular, he is backing off his rather convictionless opinion and claiming the flag is racist. '

What changed? 9 black people were killed in Charleston. The victims families forgave, but people like Perry need to feel like they are doing something about it, and hence, blame a flag.

Changing the flag only changes the flag, It deals with no specific problem at all but makes the "racist-o-phones" (those afraid to actually deal with the issue of race for fear they will be called a racist).

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During the presidency of Bill Clinton more than 40 elected Democratic officials in Mississippi became Republicans

"Several Democratic elected officials who have become Republicans in Mississippi in recent years have pointed to President Obama as one of the reasons - not because of his skin color but because of his policies. But that is not unique to President Obama (cue my own historic flashback). During the presidency of Bill Clinton more than 40 elected Democratic officials in Mississippi became Republicans (more than 470 nationwide). Similarly, they pointed to Clinton's policies. Those Mississippi Democrats became Republicans not because Clinton was white or Obama was black; they became Republicans because Clinton and Obama are liberals and most Mississippians are not." --Brian Perry 05.27.15 [Madison County Journal]