Recently the Rev. Dickie and I devoted a little time to clowning Mississippi and its decision to remove the Confederate battle jack from its flag. It has since been suggested to me, privately, that I shouldn’t hassle people who are doing the right thing.

Maybe. I mean, better 150 years late than never, right?

But there are reasons to reserve judgment. Consider Mississippi’s friend and neighbor, Georgia.

This is the official flag that flew over the state from 1956-2001. 1956? Right. This flag was born of the mid-’50s segregationist movement and the battle jack’s addition was purposeful.

In 2001 the state adopted this hot mess, a tribute to its “history.”

Finally, in 2003 the state rid itself entirely of the battle jack, an overt declaration of war against 30% of its citizens. In its place it adopted this entirely modern, unoffensive and racially sensitive design.

Which looks nothing like the official flag of the Confederacy (1861-1863).

I grew up in a very racist, South’s-gonna-rise-ag’in part of North Carolina, and as a result I have some acquaintance with the region’s lingering affections for The Peculiar Institution.

As such, and with all due apologies, I’ll begin assuming good faith on the part of Southern states as soon as they begin exhibiting some.