Vicksburg Mayor Paul Winfield on Tuesday was installed as president of the Mississippi Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials. He will be responsible “for increasing participation among elected officials, serving as a liaison to the Municipal League and for advocating policy decisions of particular interest to the African American community.”

We congratulate the mayor on this honor and are pleased it puts Vicksburg in a positive light, but how much longer must organizations such as the one over which Winfield will now preside exist? How many more days will it be necessary to have a caucus of black elected officials? A caucus of white elected officials would be called the Ku Klux Klan. There should be no elected black caucus. There should be no elected white caucus. Singling out a group of people based on skin color, whether black or white, is racism.

A recent headline in Mississippi’s largest newspaper declared, “Who’s Who in Black Mississippi.” The paper failed to tell its readers, though, where exactly is “Black Mississippi.” Further, why should there be such a designation? Does it not reek of racial division?

History aside — there is no point repeating what those who live here already know — but in short, Mississippi has a terrible history of racial segregation. Over the past 60 years, residents have toiled tirelessly to make the notion of one Mississippi a reality.

Schools created solely on the basis of keeping blacks from attending are no longer. No separate theaters or drinking fountains exist anymore. We should all rejoice at that.

But just imagine if a book chronicled a “Who’s Who in White Mississippi” and programs at the Jackson Convention Center were planned? “Back to Old Dixie,” the headlines would read.

And rightfully so.

This book is just the latest example, though.

• Why was it necessary to hold a White House-sponsored forum that focused specifically on how government policy affects black Americans? This happened in Jackson on June 12, and U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Bolton was one of the headliners. There are no separate policies for blacks and whites, so why focus on how those policies affect one race or another?

• Is it necessary to have a Miss Black Mississippi pageant when women of any color can be, and are, included in Miss Mississippi? Check out the 42 women who competed right here in Vicksburg last week for the coveted state title.

When Sports Illustrated released its Top 50 athletes from the State of Mississippi, the sports publication did not find it necessary to break down the list by best white or black athletes. It would have been racist to do so. The two best athletes in this state — as chosen by SI — are both black. Few would argue that Walter Payton and Jerry Rice are the two best football players produced by this state. Those two men were at the top of the list not because they are black, but because they are the best.

If Mississippi really has a desire to advance past a history of racial intolerance, it has to be a two-way street. Each time a “Who’s Who in Black Mississippi” or program aimed at empowering blacks in government is presented, it has a tinge of segregation — singling out one racial group instead of another in a public arena.

A more appropriate program would be “Who’s Who in Mississippi” and it would include a rainbow of races chosen by their deeds, not to whom they were born and what color their skin happens to be.

If ending discrimination and racial attitudes is the goal, everyone must understand the gate to reconciliation swings both ways.