Mississippi man launches own PR campaign to improve state's image

A Mississippi advertising executive has launched his own PR campaign to improve the state's image after being questioned about it by a child on a plane:

For Mississippian Rick Looser, the last straw came on an airline flight a couple of years ago when a 12-year-old Connecticut boy sitting next to him asked: "Do you still see the KKK on the streets every day?"

That prompted the advertising executive to spend his own money on a campaign to dispel Mississippi's image as a forlorn state of poor, illiterate, racist good ole boys.

According to the article, he has spent more than $300,000 on his campaign, which highlights literary greats such as William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams and famous Mississippi-born entertainers such as B.B. King and Elvis.

The article says that "the biggest stumbling block remains Mississippi's turbulent racial history", but Looser counters that the state has changed and that in fact "Mississippi has more black elected officials than any other state in the country."

The Southern Poverty Law Center agrees:

Mark Potok, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, which monitors hate groups, agreed that Mississippi doesn't always deserve such a bad rap.

"People think that the Klan and white supremacist groups in general are Southern artifacts, but that simply is not the truth," he said. "We see as many hate groups, and certainly as many hate crimes, in Northern and even coastal states. It's a cliche that has some residual truth, but essentially doesn't describe the situation as it is anymore."

But in the related-and-unfortunately-timed-news department, there's this:

The Marshall County Sheriff's Office arrested two more people last week in connection with a cross burning near a black family's front yard in northern Mississippi.

Mr. Looser's PR efforts are commendable -- the entire South could use an image makeover. Unfortunately it seems there are still plenty of throwbacks around who want to set us back 150 years and keep us ther