What is history?
“History is about telling a good story. But it’s also about sorting out the order of events,” writes historian Robert Lacey in a column for The Christian Science Monitor.
One of Mississippi’s most valuable resources is our history. These days, the past has become a commodity as cultural travel and tourism takes off with retiring Baby Boomers and others who are curious about where all of us have come from — as individuals and families, as a state and a nation. Take out a map of Mississippi and you can plan fascinating roadtrips from the rolling hills to the coastal plain, from Vicksburg to Newton to Meridian, into the Delta, along the River, and to small town squares throughout the state.
You’ll find history alive and well on our major thoroughfares and rural backroads because history never really dies in the South, particularly in Mississippi. And that’s a important because we have a lot of baggage tied up in our past. There’s the good, and the bad and the downright ugly with which to contend. Fortunately, we’re doing a decent job of accounting for what can only be called the sins of our past and moving Mississippi forward.
Victims from long ago are finally seeing justice. Crimes are being prosecuted. Races are working together. And history is being made.
A new venue for exploring and explaining a fundamental part of our history is the National Civil Rights Museum. This project, the exhibits, its staff and publications are going to be a critical component in where we are going as a people with a shared history and similar stories that must be told.
And, let’s be honest, it would be great for business, too. We might still have that insulting state flag — and make no mistake about it, that flag is an insult to thousands of Mississippians both black and white and I don’t care how many people voted to keep it flying — but the National Civil Rights Museum could be an invaluable tool in helping us show the rest of the world that we are so much more than what that flag represents.
And the museum must be a part of the revitalization of downtown Jackson. In spite of a bumbling city administration, progress is being made in the Capital City thanks to leadership and investment from the business community. A new cultural destination in downtown could shift the momentum that’s building into high gear.
That’s why Tuesday’s vote by the National Civil Rights Museum Commission to build on land near Tougaloo College rather than in downtown is so disheartening. It doesn’t make sense, and the business community should be outraged by the decision.
If you believe in the future of downtown Jackson, then do something about this situation. Make a call. Use your influence. Let’s fix this problem and turn a great possibility into a cultural and economic development reality.
Contact MBJ editor Jim Laird at jim.laird@msbusiness.com or (601) 364-1018. Read his blog at mbjblog.wordpress.com.
