Student: Inclusivity is key to keeping young people in Mississippi
Mississippi, for years, has been in crisis.
No alarm ever sounded, and no emergency was ever declared, but the evacuation has long been under way.
The passage of time without change, politics without parity, and legislation without inclusivity has driven away our youth in droves. Recent data from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau revealed Mississippi was one of just three U.S. states in the past decade to lose population, suffering a loss of 6,018 people.
The tagline ‘population loss’ does not serve the issue justice. Mississippi continues to not just hemorrhage people, but also lived experiences, capital, and creativity that would otherwise propel us to a state of prosperity, rather than that of poverty.
I’ve been in this state all of my life. This state nurtured my curiosity, taught me to seize opportunity, and provided me a foundation I will never be able to repay in full. When I became the first in my family to go to college, I chose to stay in-state because I want to give back and affect change in the systems that shaped my life here.
But Mississippi drove others away, and I can’t blame them. Whether it was a lack of career opportunity, lack of financial or medical security, or lack of concordance with state and local government, they were driven away, and it’s unlikely we’ll ever get them back. For students like me who have stayed, the impact is painful: the people who have evacuated are our friends, mentees, and role models.
Rarely is the question asked, though, whether students would leave less if Mississippi were more affirming of their experience. To be sure, economic opportunity — or lack thereof — is a vital determinant of Mississippian outmigration. But my concern relates to belonging.
Simply put, Mississippi’s leadership must foster an ethic of inclusivity if it is to stem the social, cultural, and financial bleeding. Unless our leadership builds relationships where none have been present, consults those whose voices have long gone unheard, and abstains from our long, political history of indifference, our fate is clear.
We should harness our recent momentum. Just over a year ago, Mississippi took a monumental stride in replacing the state flag, which adorned the Confederate battle emblem. Elected officials, Republican and Democrat, capitalized on the opportunity for moral progress.
Speaker of the House Philip Gunn, chiefly credited for the success of the flag movement, said after its passage, “It’s all worth it…we’ve turned a corner in the history of our state.”
Indeed, Mr. Speaker — and I hope our state leadership has the humility, political courage, and compassion to continue building coalitions with inclusive motives, regardless of difficulty. Now is not the time to tether the height of our expectations to a flag change that should have happened 127 years ago. We are alive today, and young people like me spend their waking hours contemplating whether there’s a space for them here.
Andy Flores, from Ocean Springs, is a student of Leadership and the American Presidency with the Ronald Reagan Institute in Washington, D.C. He is studying Public Policy Leadership at The University of Mississippi.
This story was originally published September 26, 2021 at 12:00 AM.