Mississippi needs a civil rights museum. The lack of such a statewide museum is a tangible testament that some of the wounds of the era have yet to fully heal.

In recent months, an elderly man was arrested and charged in the 1960s double murders of two men whose only crime was that they were born black.

The arrest was the latest in a long string of the nearly forgotten cases that had yet to be fully solved. The indictments are public proof that the state is working hard to right past wrongs and allow justice to finally be served.

As a state on which the nation’s critical eyes have been constantly focused for decades, Mississippi needs to celebrate its civil rights history — the good, the bad and the downright ugly chapters.

A museum dedicated to that goal is the best means to that end.

The Mississippi House passed a $50 million bond bill to fund such a museum a couple of weeks ago.

Unfortunately, that’s about as far as the plans have gone. The location of the museum isn’t set and the plans are not in place yet.

In short, the Senate leadership has said it will put the breaks on funding the full amount until those plans are in place.

Gov. Haley Barbour has asked for $500,000 this year to get the plan in place and ready to be fully funded next year.

Yes, Mississippi needs a civil rights museum and we need an impressive one, one that will make us all proud to be Mississippians.

But we need to have a good plan for the museum before we just throw money at it. It’s time for state leaders to think about the details, not just the big picture.

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