A new day in Mississippi

Philadelphia, Mississippi, which gained its claim to fame during the Mississippi burning episode of American history, has come a long ways. Once a bastion for the KKK, church bombings, and the lynchings of blacks who wanted to vote, the town now has a black mayor.

Racism is dying hard, but thank God, it is dying. As an older and hateful generation dies out, a younger generation that does not distinguish worth based on color is taking its place. Philadelphia, Mississippi just became the poster child for a new age, in which hate and bigotry is turning to ashes. The new mayor was sworn in on Saturday.

Kudos to you, Philadelphia. You did good.

Article is here.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbY-M55bGIo"]YouTube - George Jefferson/Sherman Hemsley Cape Verdean Mix[/ame]

Kudos, and impressive. But I fear there is much more to do.

Congratulations indeed.
Goes a long way to drawing a line under history and moving on, perhaps redeeming itself. Mississippi is quite infamous and stands out in terms of civil rights record

Yeah I live in Mississippi. Some of the dudes around here can be racist, but it's not as prevalent around here as you would think. Before I moved to the South (from CA) I thought all these people down here were redneck trash scum, I know that sounds harsh, but that is how the South is portrayed by quite a few outlets. Anyway, the people here are actually really nice. I am an Agnostic, and I havn't had anyone push religion or racism on me or anything like that. I go to Ole Miss, and there are quite a bit of African Americans here, it's really nice. Of course racism is still around but, racism was not just prevalent in the South. Look at all the hateful letters written to James Meredith, the first black student at Ole Miss, a large amount of them came from area's like CA, NY, Massachusetts. Believe it or not but you can go read them in the library here. Mississippi is no different than any other state in the U.S. Also the KKK has long been dead man, only around 2,000 members now. There are quite a bit more dangerous white supremacy groups out there. Do some research, it's interesting stuff.

Thanks for posting this story.

I grew up in a border state in the late 50's. A couple of years ago I was in a small town in NC and visited their historical museum/gift shop. I picked up a small book that was a compilation of letters written by a former slave woman. The woman at the cash register was about my age and white like myself. We had been chatting amiably as I wandered around the small museum. I handed her the book I had selected and then went to pay. For just a moment we exchanged looks of rememberance. We had both lived our separate lives in a segregated South through the 50's and the years of uncertainty in the 60's and all that followed thereafter. And now, for just an instant we were drawn together by a book of memories of an old Black lady. It was a poignant moment.

We've all come a long way Baby! Let's keep moving.

That's one of the reasons I like living here - things are changing. The old ways are slowly dying off, and a new, more socially tolerant way of life is taking hold in the Magnolia State.

Little by little we're moving away from the past and into the future!

danarhea said:

As an older and hateful generation dies out, a younger generation that does not distinguish worth based on color is taking its place.

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If that's the case, then a black mayor isn't going to make a difference. The demographics probably shifted.

I will not bash the South since I know we had and still have some racism right here in 'Liberal' Connecticut a.k.a. land of steady habits. I do recall when I was stationed at Keesler AFB in Biloxi Miss in 1966-67 seeing signs that said 'colored' in Biloxi and Gulport, and Pasguagulla, Miss. So racism was institutional there. Up here in the liberal North we had unofficial segregation. The highscholl that I went to was almost lilly white not because of laws but because of housing patterns. In my part of town we had our own 'colored'people but they all lived on one street. I had two Colored kids in my graduating class.

Now back to Mississippi theor racism and segration was institutional. It of course will take them time to get over the past. They will move into whatwe had in the norh before official civl rights laws - an uneasy truce.

As someone else said after the old codgers die off racism will die with them.

Even up here w=us baby boomers were les preejudice than our parents and our kids could hardly give a damn what a person's race is.

F107HyperSabr said:

Even up here w=us baby boomers were les preejudice than our parents and our kids could hardly give a damn what a person's race is.

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I'll agree with that, but I'll add this. The difference between the north and the south in terms of racism is this: down south you get some fringe, kook groups spreading racism while decent, good people quietly go about their lives without prejudice. Up here, decent, good people loudly go about their lives decrying the evils of racism until they get behind closed doors with a few good friends and some beers. Then you find out how they really feel.

As far as Connecticut goes? Holy moses. :shock: If you want to see racism, go to New Haven.

StandUpChuck said:

I'll agree with that, but I'll add this. The difference between the north and the south in terms of racism is this: down south you get some fringe, kook groups spreading racism while decent, good people quietly go about their lives without prejudice. Up here, decent, good people loudly go about their lives decrying the evils of racism until they get behind closed doors with a few good friends and some beers. Then you find out how they really feel.

As far as Connecticut goes? Holy moses. :shock: If you want to see racism, go to New Haven.

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The 3 civil rights workers were not murdered in Connecticut. They were murdered in Mississippi, and racism there, and elsewhere in the South, was institutional at the time, not just something found in fringe groups.

However, I do agree with the part you said about racism in the North. That is very true.

danarhea said:

The 3 civil rights workers were not murdered in Connecticut. They were murdered in Mississippi, and racism there, and elsewhere in the South, was institutional at the time, not just something found in fringe groups.

However, I do agree with the part you said about racism in the North. That is very true.

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Keystone State Skinheads.

Racism is just as violent in the north as it is in the south.

new coup for you said:

Keystone State Skinheads.

Racism is just as violent in the north as it is in the south.

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When the KKK was at it's strongest--20 million strong--the headquarters was in Indiana.

I grew up in a very racist part of Indiana. Now I live in the south (live in Alabama and work in Mississippi). There are some racist bastards down here, but they are far more rural than urban (and by rural I mean out in the sticks). It's not like it has been portrayed that the south are all ignorant rednecks (although there are more than a few). Most of the people I have met in the past year that are actually from here are very nice and not racists at all. The south does some strange things that help keep that stereotype alive, but all-in-all most aren't like what people perceive them to be.

I could never understand why racism would be more prevalent in the south.

All you have to do is interact with the Great Society poverty-belt blacks in the Northern inner cities to understand what I'm talking about.

I always remark how much friendlier black people are when I travel south of the Mason Dixon line.