In Mississippi, the Meridian Star newspaper has published an apology for its past coverage of civil rights issues. An editorial read, in part, “There was a time when this newspaper —– and many others across the south -— acted with gross neglect by largely ignoring the unfairness of segregated schools, buses, restaurants, washrooms, theaters and other public places. We did it through omission, by not recording for our readers many of the most important civil rights activities that happened in our midst, including protests and sit-ins. That was wrong. We should have loudly protested segregation and the efforts to block voter registration of black East Mississippians.” The editorial was published on Sunday, one day before the Martin Luther King Day holiday and two days before the inauguration of Barack Obama as America’s first black president.