Early this January, Mississippi Senator Joseph Seymour introduced a bill that would require “governments or state colleges to display the official state flag” or else the administrative head of that entity will face a 25% cut in payment until they comply. Seymour’s reasoning behind this bill is that in a 2001 referendum 65% of Mississippians chose to keep the current state flag, and he did not feel like university presidents should be putting their own beliefs in effect on a state-funded campus.

The push to take down the state flag came after a mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, where nine African-Americans were killed inside of a church. Due to the crime’s racially motivated nature, it seemed inappropriate to many to continue flying a flag that has a Confederate symbol on it. By presenting this bill, Seymour refused to listen to these voices and instead acted as though those that wanted to take down the flag were going against the will of the people.

However, Seymour’s argument has minimal relevance. Using a 15-year-old poll to justify this bill is absurd, and even if the referendum was more recent, strong-arming universities into flying a flag by cutting salaries is nothing more than bullying these administrators for having an opinion. In addition, the student populaces are often the ones calling for the state flag to be taken down on campus, so the bill would essentially be punishing these administrators for listening to their student body and allowing the flag to be taken down.

Truthfully, it is inappropriate to fly a flag that contains a symbol with nothing but hateful connotations. These colleges should have the right to do what they feel is respectful without being punished for it, and this bill would do just the opposite. Instead of trying to punish college administrators, our state legislature should see if the people of Mississippi still want to keep their state flag rather than assuming things from outdated data.