Jackson Free Press

I tend to believe that because we are not hanging from trees regularly or picking cotton that some Mississippians choose to embrace the idea that we are free from racism in this state. I don't just mean white people, either. Whether they are the type to admit it or not, white people know that racism is still very alive. It has shifted its core and changed its face, but it lives and breathes. One could argue that it's as bad today than it has ever been. In Mississippi, it is thriving.

The idea is so rampant in this state that it can be called by its proper name, Mississippi Racism. It breathes a different air than other racist places. Mississippi is like the Michael Jordan of racist states in the union. It's so normal that it has become expected and accepted all over the state. Those who don't accept it elect to make signs and march through the streets. Don't get me wrong, protests have a place. But I haven't seen them accomplish much for black people in this state, yet.

Mississippi Racism flows through our government like a raging river. Black people who work in government are being continuously oppressed. The idea of hand-picking the least combative and most unthreatening black person to calm the flow of racism does not mean there is diversity or that the black community is being represented. A person who lives in the suburbs, sends children to private school and shops in the outskirts of town—even if black—has little exposure to inner-city struggles. Poverty, mental enslavement and other remnants of being inferior to the powerful are all lost on that person.

Someone without this understanding, regardless of race, simply does not represent the body of black Mississippians. If they are treading the path without using their position to create a real change, they are therefore an ally to the oppression of the community.

One mission is currently swaying through these Mississippi streets, and that mission is to keep black people controllable and needy. Keep black people poor and destitute so they have to accept the discrimination on their jobs. Many are too mentally broken to believe that they can do better or even work for themselves and prosper. Keep black people angry. So angry that they don't unify and make plans that will correct the dependent mentality that haunts the black community.

An angry people becomes emotional. Emotions steer us away from owning our own businesses so that we don't have to give our money back to the oppressors. Being angry keeps us from planning so that we can buy land together and own property. Angry people have no way to get out their aggression but to turn on each other or to dive into substance abuse, which destroys our minds.

Angry people don't strategize effectively. They pray. Left with nothing else but hope and faith over hundreds of years, black folk prayed. Our children are taught to just—pray.

I pray. Understand though, prayer has to be accompanied by action to spark change. While we are praying, oppressors are making laws. They are teaching their children to hunt. Today, they hunt game. Tomorrow, they may be cops hunting black children in the streets.

They are being promoted, at a highly alarming rate, into decision-making positions in governmental offices and in other areas that affect the lives of all Mississippians. They are running for offices that actually decide what our rights are.

Now, how can we expect that lawmakers who have been raised by oppressors will actually give a damn about a black life just because they take office? They will simply bring their racist views to that position and lawfully act against our betterment.

This doesn't excuse the need to vote, though. In this state voting the right person into office suits no one if they are silenced once they get there. This is commonplace—from the head of this state down to your supervisor who refuses to allow you to advance in a company you probably built for him.

Some lawmakers today are the grandchildren of men/women who slashed the backs of slaves who tried to learn to read. They are the children of men who hanged black folk for fighting for freedom. They are the living legacy of people who refused water and food to those who worked their land and raised their children.

It's not emotional; it's systematic. It is a well-thought-out plan that has been working since the "Colored" sign came down off the bathrooms.

Mississippi Racism hasn't evolved or died. It has adjusted.

Funmi "Queen" Franklin is a word lover, poet and advocate for sisterhood. She has a weakness for reality shows.