Let me first say, as a U.S. Navy veteran I found myself no matter where I was in the world, defending the state I called home. Wherever I was visiting and sharing where I was from, I got quick responses like “They’re still lynching folk there” or “We know what ‘hospitality’ really means”.
It became apparent not only did they appreciate I was from the U.S. they had no problem commenting on our convoluted history, especially ours, in Mississippi. I couldn’t get mad, actually, I welcomed the conservation simply because it was a reminder of why so many Mississippians would rather not talk about the difficult part, but always be ready to defend that part that others find “twisted”.
Well, a few days ago a protest occurred on the campus of Ole Miss in which on one side there were about 30 Pro-Palestinian protesters, and on the other side about 300 mostly white male students shouting racial slurs and jumping around like monkeys and you could hear one making the sound of an ape directly at a Black female student who was recording the nonsense on her phone. They were brutal with the racial slurs, body shaming, and downright mockery. Some of the young men had on coveralls in the Stars and Stripes. But here’s what makes the situation worse. First, the young black female is a student who will be receiving her Ph. D. Second is that the former POTUS (#44) saw it and stated, “Good job” to the young men, and finally the governor saw and sent it back out commenting, “God, it’s good to be in Mississippi”.
Well, since I retired, at least once a week I am reminded of how we have yet to talk about the damage that our history has created, and some guy who will use that weakness to bring out this behavior. Over 200 blues markers is not going to help until you have leadership to get to the root of this behavior and a willingness to admit the awful residue that constantly continues to plague us.
