A Liberal In The Midst

This weekend the movie, “The Help” opened across the nation. This movie is based on the service of Black women in White households in Mississippi. As this movie was preparing to make its national debut an incident in Mississippi from June 25th of this year finally made the national news. On June 25th a young man committed vehicular homicide. The young man is White and the victim was a Black man. The accused is quoted as saying “Let’s go mess with some niggers” on the night he committed the murder of the Black man. A Facebook discussion has erupted over the incident pitting friends of the accused against members of the Black community who see this as another day in Mississippi. As I read the posts on the matter, I thought how sad for Mississippi to not be able to break free of its past because of the continued hate in its present. The posts to my amazement centered not so much on the murdering aspect of the incident or how to mitigate such actions in the future but as to whethe...

In response to the death of Usama Bin Laden, a local television station posted a FB question as to if his death would help President Obama win re-election. Before I continue I must state, I live in Mississippi. To say the thread went racial is a given, the real question is how long did it take it to go violent? In less than 239 comments in the span of less than 30 minutes, the thread was violent as well as racial. There were threats by whites and blacks against each other. It amazed me as to how quickly a yes or no question could produce racially tinged violence. Even for Mississippi that was quick. I read the thread with dismay for it showed so much of what this state is known for by the rest of the world. Yes, the world not just rest of the United States believes Mississippi is the hotbed of racial injustice in the United States. I have spent many hours of my travels defended this state just to read such rhetoric. Are they saying such things only because they are online? Why...