Leland Speed is doing to Mississippi exactly what a director of the Mississippi Development Authority has needed to do for a long time-give our state a sharp slap on the hand to get our attention.

The Associated Press dubbed it &8220;tough love&8221; in describing Speed’s interview with them and some upcoming speeches the MDA executive director has planned.

Speed told the AP he took Yazoo City officials to task for the aesthetics of their community during a tour of the Delta town.

&8220;You have to think of how the city you’re trying to sell to employers looks,&8221; Speed told the AP.

Speed pointed to Oxford as an example of a preeminent Mississippi city because of the genteel university town’s link to the arts, especially literature-reference John Grisham and that other fella, William Faulkner.

Of course, Oxfords are generally the exceptions in states and not the rule. But Mississippi has a plethora of Oxfords &045; Natchez, Vicksburg, the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg and even Tunica &045; to name a few. All of these towns thrive and die on the shoulders of a tourism economy, so they have sparked concerted efforts within their communities to make sure they present the best image possible to the outside world.

Improving the looks of a community is not reserved just for tourism towns, though. Several Mississippi cities have led the way with the Mississippi Main Street Program. Efforts to revitalize the aesthetics of a downtown effort generally bring about more businesses instead of empty store fronts, more apartments over stores than junked up attics and more foot traffic than desolate sidewalks during the evening.

But Speed is talking of doing more than picking up trash and repainting buildings. Speed is also addressing our state’s tumultuous past and what we must do to improve our image beyond our borders. &8220;Let’s face reality; we’ve got a dark past,&8221; Speed said. &8220;We’ve got to face and deal with it.&8221;

Speed’s words could not have rung truer were they spoken at any other time, for the second Mississippi university in three years just learned that it will lose its opportunity to host a major tournament. Mississippi State University’s invitation to host a basketball tournament in November was pulled because of NCAA regulations prohibiting sanctioned tournaments in any state whose flag is emblazoned the Confederate emblem.

Speed is the appointee of a governor who has publicly backed our current flag, as did approximately 65 percent of voters in a 2001 referendum on changing to a new flag. Then-Gov. Ronnie Musgrove said that not changing the flag would lead to negative effects on economic development opportunities.

Losing two NCAA tournaments hardly qualifies as proving Musgrove’s words as prophetic. After all, the people’s decision in 2001 didn’t make Nissan pack up and leave, it didn’t keep the Atlanta Braves from coming to the state and it didn’t preclude that nice new outdoors store from picking a site in Pearl.

But what impact did it have on Toyota’s decision? What other economic development prospects have we lost that we do not know about because of the perception others have of us?

We should all defend our great state against people who draw ill assumptions about us without first experiencing what we are all about. Still, as the old saying goes, &8220;Perception is everything.&8221;

Speed called what is happening in Neshoba County &8220;a very meaningful step&8221; in correcting the negative stereotypes our state bears. Indeed, bringing to justice the killers of those three civil rights workers so many years ago will help ease the pains predicated by racism and prejudice.

But we must ask ourselves, what else-besides time-will help further a more truthful image of this state we call home?

Sam R. Hall

can be reached by e-mail to

shall@sctonline.net

.