Re Irish sergeant's " stained that banner with bigotry's blotch". That banner IS bigotry's blotch. During and since the Civil War, a lot of smoke has been blown about state's rights, tarrifs, industrial vs. agricultural development and other B.S. to show that the Confederates had legitimate political and economic issues that led to secession. It doesn't take much research to discover that black slavery was the issue behind the war. It was in some ways like the first domino in a row, so that when a captured rebel private was asked why he was fighting, he said "'cause you fellows are down here." ( The Civil War by Shelby Foote}. No matter what an individual's motivation, the root cause was slavery. If Mississippi wants to continue under that symbol, thats O.K., as long as we all know what it stands for.