In 2015, John Grisham and I enlisted the vast majority of Mississippi writers, as well as prominent athletes, coaches, actors, and musicians in an effort to persuade the legislature to remove the Confederate imagery from the Mississippi state flag. I am happy to be able to say that the old flag has finally been retired, and that a new one has taken its place. I've watched it flown with pride from college football fields to the U.S. Capitol. This change was a big step for Mississippi, one long overdue.  But a flag is only a flag in the end. Much work still remains to be done. 

[Letter continues under "The Lost Cause Myth."]