Opinion
Ridgeland mayor is an embarrassment to Mississippi
Move over “Fahrenheit 451,” a new dystopia is in town. People of all ages have been captured by the dystopian literature that fills bookstores and libraries, but most have never believed that such things would come true in the United States. After all, this country was founded on individual freedoms...
American conservatism has shifted from personal liberty to government overreach
Ask any two people on the street what critical race theory means and you’ll likely get a different answer from each. Ask Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves and Republican state senators, however, and you are guaranteed to get an incorrect answer. The Mississippi State Senate recently passed a bill with a...
Opinion: Mass censorship shows our leaders’ cowardice
“America seems filled with violent people who like causing people pain but hate when those people tell them that pain hurts.” Kiese Laymon is perhaps the most prolific and controversial professor to have ever led a classroom at the University of Mississippi. Though he has recently left UM for Rice...
Critical race theory isn’t in Mississippi classrooms — but quality history education should be
The Mississippi Senate passed a bill on Friday, Jan. 21 that would ban schools from teaching critical race theory. Not all senators were a part of the vote, however, as all Black lawmakers walked out in protest of the bill before voting began. Considering critical race theory deals directly with...
COVID should not take away students’ opportunities
New Year, new variant. As soon as the pandemic appeared to start dying down, a new coronavirus variant that is more contagious than the last has appeared. Once I allowed myself to get my hopes up that college would be able to resume like normal, the coronavirus sank its claws...
America must stop preparing for school shootings and start preventing them
I know I wasn’t the only student who felt a sharp sense of alarm when I read that a school shooting had taken place at Oxford High School on Nov. 30. Nor was I the only one who felt that fear slightly dissipate once I learned it was Oxford High...
Americans cannot accept a single COVID-19 death
As we enter our third calendar year of the pandemic, many say we have much to be hopeful for. 62% of Americans are fully vaccinated, the now-rampant Omicron variant is supposedly less fatal (albeit much, much more contagious) and, as a society, we seem less afraid of COVID-19, with mass...
Critical race theory’s threat to Mississippi children
On Nov. 15, Gov. Tate Reeves submitted his 2023 fiscal budget to the state legislature, outlining his priorities for the year and recommending how he would like to see tax revenues allocated. One of Reeves’s proposals is to spend $3 million to “eliminate critical race theory” by promoting a more...
Jackson doesn’t care about Mississippians’ health
It is common knowledge that Mississippi is one of the sickest states in the nation. Along with SEC football, comfort food and our unpleasant past, Mississippi’s poor health outcomes must be one of the most widely held conceptions about the state. The pandemic has only highlighted the disparities in access...
The death penalty is antiquated, barbaric and needs to go
On Nov. 17, Mississippi executed its first prisoner since 2012. One of around 150 inmates to “volunteer” for execution since the United States resumed the death penalty in the 1970s, David Neal Cox waived his rights to appeals and counsel. Despite his history of mental health issues, this forfeiture of...
