My Thoughts About Being In Mississippi

Right now, I'm sitting on a bench under a tree in front of the Lyceum at the University of Mississippi. Directly in front of me are two young black men horsing around at the flag pole. I can't quite hear what they're talking about, but they're laughing. So, folks, this is the University of Mississippi. To my left is the building James Meredith was denied entry into. Directly in front of me is the U.S. flag and below it is the state flag of Mississippi, which still contains the stars and bars. And there goes a guy with dreadlocks. And above me, in the tree, a squirrel is peering down at me and squalking like I'm sitting in her seat. Maybe I am. It's weird to be sitting here and I don't think it could be any weirded if the squirrel did attack me. I really don't know any way to make sense of it. I can look at the door that James Meredith walked through, the bullet-ridden columns, and I can see the direct results of his actions right in front of me. Is that justice, though? Is opening that building to everyone justice? Or should that building have been burnt to the ground and the ground salted so that nothing would grow there? I don't know, but I'm sitting here feeling like either one would have been right and choosing this right way means something. But I don't know what. I really don't think anyone knows what it means.