Jackson Free Press

Not too long before the election, I found an e-mail I'd missed from a young Mississippi artist: "Donna, I think this article deserves a talented rebuttal. See what you can do." I clicked his link to a Slate article, and I braced myself for a pseudo-intellectual snippet of snobbishness.

Sure enough, in a useless piece called "August: Let's Get Rid of it," apparently written only to fill space, David Plotz writes: "August is the Mississippi of the calendar. It's beastly hot and muggy. It has a dismal history. Nothing good ever happens in it. And the United States would be better off without it."

I stared at the below-the-belt insult against the state where I was born and learned to love and cry and fight and write. "When will it end?" I thought. The hard-and-cold answer popped into my head: "When we end it." On another day, I would have blogged about the slight, drawing cheap, fun, familial outrage from my fellow Mississippians. But with ugly politicking all around me, I wasn't in the mood, so I filed the e-mail away.

Around the same time, presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton made her bitch-slap at Mississippi. "I was shocked when I learned Iowa and Mississippi have never elected a woman governor, senator or member of Congress. There has got to be something at work here," she told the Des Moines Register, adding: "I think Iowa poses a special burden, or a special obstacle to me because when you look at the numbers, how can Iowa be ranked with Mississippi? That's not what I see. That's not the quality. That's not the communitarianism, that's not the openness I see in Iowa."

Who you saying isn't "quality," woman?

Predictably, this statement drew outrage from Republicans like Sen. Trent Lott and Rep. Chip Pickering who demanded that the uppity Midwesterner apologize for spreading the idea that Mississippi has a problem with quality, community-building or openness.

"Senator Clinton clearly doesn't know the people of Mississippi, the people I represent," Pickering said in a release.

"Her comments were inappropriate, inaccurate, and unnecessary. A candidate for President of the United States should not use stereotypes to define a region of the country. It is sad that a leader like Clinton doesn't understand a state and neighbor, or she simply believes the south is close-minded and lacking in community and quality."

I agree with him: Real leaders shouldn't use stereotypes about groups of people. Clinton did not choose her words wisely.

A column written four years ago this week by Pickering's mentor, Sen. Lott, then came to mind. In "Liberals and Flyover Country," Lott laments that his state is "dismissed by liberal politicians and liberal interest groups who seem to look down on our values."

Lott's screed bashed "liberals"—as he stereotypes anyone who disagrees with, well, him on issues like the religion clauses of the First Amendment, the right to safe abortions and judicial qualification—with both barrels. Lott told us Mississippians and them outsiders how "we" think here, or how we're supposed to. He defined "our values"—take 'em or leave 'em, or leave the state, as many intelligent Mississippians do because we get tired of dodging such ugly bigotry against the "other."

So the same man outraged that Clinton mentioned our lack of "openness" goes around proclaiming that we're all, well, not very open-minded. Huh. Anyone else smell hypocrisy?

By defining "our values" for us, and hurling his anti-liberal bigotry toward those of us who disagree, Lott is helping increase our brain drain of talented energy who would, in turn, help us increase the "quality" and build the community that people like Clinton have a hard time seeing here. And why would outsiders think that? Either we're not building that open community, or we're hiding it from the world—either way, it is our responsibility.

We can rant all we want about people uninformed about us—and I do it in that get-me-a-baseball-and-break-their-kneecaps tone I learned in Neshoba County—but at what point do we insiders need to take responsibility for the PR that we send out to the world? Or worse, for what we tell each other?

Just as I was lamenting both Slate and Clinton's offensive words, I stumbled onto an ad that Republicans produced against lieutenant governor candidate Jamie Franks. "TOO LIBERAL FOR MISSISSIPPI" screamed the warning, backed by an ominous death march.

You gotta admire the balls of a party that would send that message about a man who was slamming immigrants and gay marriage in his own ads, set in his wee country church.

Let's break it down: I'm sitting on my sofa 90 miles away from where my mama and my daddy and I picked cotton to pay for the next meal (OK, my little sack probably bought a Coke); my mama lost a breast at Baptist hospital and my stepdaddy fought for his last breath at the V.A. Center as I held his hand; and I learned to care about people unlike me after sitting in the Neshoba County Library reading about the murders of civil-rights workers by people I knew—and there still are Mississippians cocky enough to tell me I don't belong here because I'm too "liberal." That I'm a baby-killer because I care as much about what happens to a child as I do to a fetus, that either I go along with "our values," or I don't belong here. There is a dirt road to hell that I'm happy to point them to.

Meantime, the Dems are busy one-upping the anti-immigrant rhetoric (aka the "new racism") and trying to out-hypocrite the GOP with cultish displays of biblical devotion. I think the good book they're holding would offer some advice on their tactics if they'd open it up more than they wave it for cheap votes.

So where does that leave my "talented rebuttal" to Slate and our would-be lady prez? They need to get their asses down here and seek out the real Mississippians rather than the ones who play us on TV. Talk to the progressives, religious and otherwise, who love this state and are determined to fight the worthy scrap to make our state stronger. Interview the 63 percent of under-30 Mississippians who voted for John Kerry in 2004, but who can find few candidates who give a rooster's ass about their support in our own state. Hang out with all the people here who reject racism in all its forms—even against Latinos.

And yes, they should come on down in August, and really feel the damn heat.

Previous Comments

ID

75557

Comment

I tried to explain to my best friend why I wasn't a Hillary Clinton supporter and I couldn't come up with a valid, sound, well thought out argument. My gut just told me she wasn't the "One" for me to support. Thank the Lord and pass the peas. I so glad I didn't/don't support her. Has she even been to Mississippi? I guess she has. She's lived in Arkansas nearly half her life. She should know better but she dose not and it's sad. Sad they she continues to buy into the bull crap that people are selling about us. Donna you are right. We've got to start being our won PR and we've got to figure out a way to keep our best and brightest in Mississippi. I love John Grisham but why does he mostly live in Virginia. He served in the Mississippi legislature for goodness sake. Why do our people flee when they get two nickles to rub together? Why isn't Mississippi good enough any longer? Was it ever? It was good enough to educate them. Feed them. Start their careers But not good enough to sustain them once they've "made it." I digress. We've got to be better PR people.

Author

msgrits

Date

2007-11-14T21:40:58-06:00

ID

75558

Comment

msgrits, I feel you. But don't miss the hint in the column about our own elected officials spreading these rumors about Mississippi. It's no secret that I'm not a Clinton fan (well, maybe Chelsea), but the truth is that what she said about Mississippi is no worse than what Lott, et al, tell the world about us every day. We can be mad at her about it, but it's the Mississippians who are telling the world that we live in a closed culture where we all think alike who are the real culprits. They are our burden to bear.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-11-14T21:58:45-06:00

ID

75559

Comment

Living in Washington, D.C., I hear slights about Mississippi every day. It's simply part of the fabric of urban life today that it is seen as fashionable to discredit other places. Fortunately for Mississippi, West Virginia is usually a handier target for Washingtonians to bash. I don't shy away from defending and honoring my home for many years. I just wish that more people would realize what a special place Mississippi really is. I won't pretend that there are many troubling aspects of Mississippi's past, but I think that those who post here are well aware of them. Atonement for the past is a cross which Mississippi must bear. Banishing the Confederate battle flag would be a step in the right direction for Mississippi to demonstrate its progress. Can't another vote be called for? I suppose what really bothers me is that other states have been allowed to forget their ugly pasts. Perhaps Mississippi has more sins to wash away, but it would help if the rest of the country would at least allow for the possibility of change in Mississippi. I agree that change must come from within, but it would be nice if someone else would recognize that changes have occurred in Mississippi. I lived in Boston for seven years and, while it's a great city, it can hardly be proffered as an example of racial harmony. The stereotype is really tiresome at this point. The nattering nabobs of negativity are everywhere. It's up to us to defend Mississippi from undue criticism. Sorry for the rambling post, but I think you have made an important point here. Well done!

Author

tombarnes

Date

2007-11-14T22:09:21-06:00

ID

75560

Comment

Atonement for the past is a cross which Mississippi must bear. Amen. Banishing the Confederate battle flag would be a step in the right direction for Mississippi to demonstrate its progress. Can't another vote be called for? Give us time. But there's more work to be done first. I like to say the last flag vote was a clear sign of the work yet to be done, the stories to be told. It was a big part of the reason I came on home. I realized that I was spinning my wheels telling stories everywhere but the place it mattered to me most. Thanks for your comments. They're great and right on.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-11-14T22:16:21-06:00

ID

75561

Comment

And, folks, for the record, I am not talking about empty, in-denial, we're-done-apologizing fluff PR, like that silly "Mississippi Believe It" campaign. No, this is the kind of public relations that has to come from a real place—where we show the world what we're about by turning inward and focusing on our own damn problems, and rejecting cheap rhetoric by candidates willing to sell our souls to the devil (again) to get votes. Regardless of their party. We need candidates who can lead and follow the light, not blindly stumble into the dark. Where are you? Stand up. Speak up. Be real. Talk back.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-11-14T22:40:22-06:00

ID

75562

Comment

Leave my flag alone. It is not the problem. The problem is us. We talk tolerance but mean for other folks to be tolerant of us, not us of them. The secret was revealed many years ago. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The flag represents a part of our history that covers a multitude of accomplishments as well as sins. When you focus on removing symbols such as the flag, nigger, nooses, racists, etc. in an attempt to remove the sin, the root cause(s) still remain. We have to come to grips with why we are like we are. We are not bound by our forefather's mistakes. We can build on their accomplishments and correct their mistakes. And we have!! There are some who are not satisfied with the rate of progress but there are also some who want more that the rest are willing to give. The job for us is to treat neighbors as neighbors and make allies of those who oppose us because of misunderstandings. And fight with those who are truly our enemies. Our history shows that changes with time and circumstances.

Author

bluejoe

Date

2007-11-15T09:06:39-06:00

ID

75563

Comment

I have crossed the Atlantic and the Pacific and made friends on other continents. I have crossed the northern border and the southern border and have friends on the other side. I have lived in other states, bought land and houses. I came back to Mississippi because it was home. There is something about the warmness of its people that resonates in my Being. Yes, people other places, have attempted to put me down for being a Mississippian, but I knew that was because of a human weakness they had. We now have a functioning two party system in the state. Instead of whining and beating on the folks who put themselves, family and money on the line ......and lost, let us strive to build stronger parties that focus on issues, not rumor and lies. Before I get off this soapbox... Most of the candidates I supported this last election lost....but most of the winners , I believe are men of character that will serve our state well. They will not attempt some things I believe should be attempted and they will do some things I think should not be done. They may be right and I may be wrong. But the strength of our democracy is we will have an opportunity to make corrections in four years.

Author

bluejoe

Date

2007-11-15T09:18:01-06:00

ID

75564

Comment

Hillary is right to a large degree. Need I say it again. Can somebody name the women who served as governor or in congress or the senate? I'm eager to learn the error! I'm not surprised Lott and Pickering found the comment offensive. I certainly find them (Lott and Pickering) offensive and the reason people still see us as backward country bigots. I love Donna's piece on this. I furthermore appreciate that the content reflects an evolution from the typical one-side view too many Mississippians still have. When we evolve, so will our image. When we figure this out I'll shout. But I'm not going to exercise getting ready for a moment that is unlikely to come.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-11-15T09:19:38-06:00

ID

75565

Comment

Leave my flag alone. It is not the problem. The problem is us. YOUR flag!?! It's actually the flag of every taxpayer in the state of Mississippi, and to many of us, it is a symbol of terrorism. So don't even think about telling someone else how to respond to that leering monster on a flagpole. You don't get to, and that you think you do is a big part of the problem we have to tackle. Now, it is also a symbol of the problem, which is "us." That part I agree on, and I've already said that we need to work on the underlying problems before we get together and yank that hate symbol off of our public institutions. Which we will. There is a season. Thanks, Ray. This is one of those columns that evolved over weeks of pondering it. The problem is that Mississippians must stop being binary on this issue. Yes, we should talk back to ignorant comments (like the "quality" one; otherwise, Clinton kind of nailed us as a state unit, anyway, though not as individuals). But it's hypocritical to do that if we don't also talk back to cavemen like Lott who want to tell us and outsiders what "our values" are. We're smart enough not to let either speak for us, and together a new voice of Mississippi will be heard out there. It is already in many ways. We just can't let the Lotts (and Barbours and Eaveses and Blounts) of the world drown it out with throwback rhetoric. And Ray: Keep the faith. The moment will never come if you don't believe it will. Ask Dr. King. Ask Gandhi. Ask Medgar. Ask Malcolm X. Those humans who decided to make change did the heavy lifting; the rest of us just have to finish it, especially the work of the three American patriots there. Their work was truncated, but it lives to inspire. They were only human, too, remember.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-11-15T09:31:25-06:00

ID

75566

Comment

Alright Donna, I'll keep trying to hold on, just as I keep trying to hold back the tears, for what could have been, and could still be.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-11-15T09:39:35-06:00

ID

75567

Comment

Ladd wrote: "It's actually the flag of every taxpayer in the state of Mississippi," Yep, we voted on it. If you see it as a flag of terrorism, I am sorry. It may change sometime in the future and if I am still alive I will regret it. However, election we just had did not indicate it will change soon. My point is we need to focus on the real problems of education, safety, family structure etc where the citizens cooperate and compromise in reaching solutions that work to solve specific problems. That take more than hurling names and threats. How do we reverse the flow of our population from our rural counties to the area of urban warfare we see every night on TV? What is it that is making our youth more violent? On the one hand, when I shop the malls, visit the hospitals, or courthouses, I see blacks and whites and sometimes Indians working in harmony with no outward problems. Then I browse the forums on my computer and wonder where does all the hate arise? References to the flag is a hot button used to turn off folk's thinking apparatus and is used in the same way Republicans use abortion and gay marriage. The discussions should focus on the real issues. Mississippi by nature of its population structure will be focused on racial/cultural problems for the foreseeable future. I do not know if I am right but I see the outlines of a battle occurring below the radar within the black community. I see it in the performance of the Democratic Party (which is controlled by its black majority membership) and in the comparison of the results of the 2003 and 2007 elections that Charlie Mitchell's article yesterday touched on. Hey, but I am just an old man that spends too much time on his computer.

Author

bluejoe

Date

2007-11-15T10:50:07-06:00

ID

75568

Comment

That flag is a real problem for Mississippi's image and it causes divison that will never die. You've be shocked by what it says about us nationally in the eyes of millions. Black folks almost universally hate it. You can't be listening and looking to not know this. Feel free to disagree. I know what every one of my friends accross the country think of it. Why can't you have it as your flag and I don't have it as mines. I don't mind you loving or displaying it. You can have it imprinted over your heart or on your chest or behind. I'll even help you with the tatooing of it on your heart. I don't know how to do tatoo but I'll learn to help out with this project, blujoe. I'll be careful about the pain, too. You do trust me, right?

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-11-15T11:01:09-06:00

ID

75569

Comment

Ray, I care very little what the rumors are that folks of other states care about Mississippi. I have been around enough to know they talk about us to keep from worrying about their problems. I appreciate your willingness to learn tatooing but I have none to date and am not interesting in obtaining one. However, from my observations at the beach this year, I do not blame you for wanting to get into the tattooing end of the business.

Author

bluejoe

Date

2007-11-15T11:20:35-06:00

ID

75570

Comment

Bluejoe, I don't know they are rumors. When that flag was carried as rebels charged to their death to keep slavey alive or to protect "their way of life" in the civil war, and also carried by klansmen and other racists with and without badges to make sure Jim Grow lasted forver; then, I ask where are the rumors you speak of, and the proof to the contrary that the flag carries an altogether other meaning unrelated to the one already stated.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-11-15T11:37:26-06:00

ID

75571

Comment

Ray, You and I disagree on cause of the civil war. I am a genealogical nut and I find one line of my folks in Mississippi in 1810 and all the others are here by 1850. In only one of those lines do I find a connection with slavery (1 slave). And I know of no relative of that line that fought in the war. Of the 10 relatives who did serve, none were associated with slavery. They were small time farmers who raised their families in the back woods of Mississippi. And if you have researched the KKK, you know that as a secret organization, it left many versions of its origin, purposes and deeds, and the validity of many are questionable. Now I am not getting into a defense of those actions or proposed actions of which I acknowledge no responsibility. My research indicates my folks fought, and some died, for the Confederacy. I do not know what their motivation was or what they believed about it but I find no personal reason for them to support slavery. Mississippi has voted on its state flag and I have no apology for its vote.

Author

bluejoe

Date

2007-11-15T12:49:42-06:00

ID

75572

Comment

Blue if your cousins were coming over and you knew they hated mashed potatoes, if you liked them you wouldn't serve them mashed potatoes when they came over for dinner. So even if the rest of the family outnumbered them and wanted mashed potatoes, you'd be a good host and serve them something they liked, or at least something that you thought they might like. That flag is nuts, 35% of the people here HATE it, if you respect them, you'd help get rid of it. Its a symbol, and its a bad one. That symbol will always be in the history books, but keeping a reminder of what once was in the present is just mean spirited and can only make reconcilation a joke, since while we today can proclaim we had nothing to do with the sins of the past, if we sit under that flag that glorifies the past, we are still sinners. That flag is just stupid, it needs to be flushed down the toilet never to be seen again.

Author

GLewis

Date

2007-11-15T12:57:31-06:00

ID

75573

Comment

GL, First it was flags, then nooses and now mashed potatoes. Couldn't help myself for being a smartass. My logical response: Tolerance is required for a democracy. When the majority wins, the minority tolerates. Sometimes it goes the other way: My granddaughter told Granny last night to be sure to have mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner. There will be several old folks at the table that can't eat them and do not like the temptation put before us but we will tolerate the mashed potatoes.

Author

bluejoe

Date

2007-11-15T13:13:21-06:00

ID

75574

Comment

The more you try to get people to take it down the more people will fly it. A good example would be my wife who is from up north. When the flag was voted on back in 2001 she was against it. Now that she has seen how some of the people agaisnt the flag act she is all for keeping it. This is from a true bonafied Yankee girl. Just imagine how some of the undecided people from Mississippi when people get in their face saying the flag has to go. Maybe if some attitudes would change a compromise could be reached on the state flag. As long as people stay angry about it then I don't believe it will ever be changed.

Author

jackbauer

Date

2007-11-15T13:24:53-06:00

ID

75575

Comment

Let me chime in here and say that if someone wants to start a revisionist thread about the Civil War not being about slavery, get it off my personal blog. Go to the forums. And jackbauer, with due respect, this isn't about just what your Yankee wife thinks. And if you are the guy from Clinton who has been booted numerous times and has left several long winded phone messages to me about how I/we suck, as your new e-mail address indicates that you are, get out. It's against the rules to sneak back in, and you know it.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-11-15T13:37:35-06:00

ID

75576

Comment

And by the way, "people" can fly the Stars & Bars all they want in their homes, yards and cars. If they want to send that message about themselves, by all means, go for it. We're talking about the GOVERNMENT here, and the GOVERNMENT should not be proudly waving a symbol of terrorism against nearly 50 percent of its residents.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-11-15T13:39:18-06:00

ID

75577

Comment

I wonder why the more people try to get the flag moved the more people will fly it. Don't tell me thought. I think I know why already. Jackbauer that argument by your girlfriend really persuaded me. It's really brillant. Can you laugh along with me? This is especially true since I know she must have also considered how people act who support the flag too (right?)and how it has and is currently being used oftentimes(right again). Bluejoe, the matter of your personal family doesn't do anything for me. I support or fail to support lots of things for the sake of other people. But a good American like you shouldn't! Now I know why the comedian Paul Mooney says he cries everytime he sees a white person who is homelss, clueless or doesn't have it altogether.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-11-15T13:43:03-06:00

ID

75578

Comment

GL, First it was flags, then nooses and now mashed potatoe That is such a stupid, ignorant, offensive, insensitive comment. If you happen to be white, you are making white people look really bad here.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-11-15T14:07:34-06:00

ID

75579

Comment

I hope everyone can take a joke. Actually Paul Mooney says " I cry every time I see a white homeless person." He then pauses as the audience members, often mixed with all races, say to themselves he has compassion and love for a down and out white person although he's a black man in America. He then says I cry because, "What a waste of white skin. He could be doing so much more with it in America." Of course this joke could be made about all of us, to some degree. If it's bad taste please delete Donna.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-11-15T14:07:48-06:00

ID

75580

Comment

How many people are brave enough to fly a stars and bars in their yard? I mean why stop there, stick up a swaztica while you are at it. Most people aren't dumb enough for that and why we want our government to appear that way is beyond me.

Author

GLewis

Date

2007-11-15T14:22:16-06:00

ID

75581

Comment

Please delete me from the membership of this site.

Author

bluejoe

Date

2007-11-15T14:45:41-06:00

ID

75582

Comment

Don't worry. Your membership self-destructs if you don't use it.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-11-15T14:48:05-06:00

ID

75583

Comment

We need you bluejoe. Don't leave, please. Your commetary has been thoughtful and stimulating. I enjoyed it although I din't agree with a little of it. We don't have to agree, just tolerate each other. Todd had a column on this just recently. It might still be on the site.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-11-15T14:51:53-06:00

ID

75584

Comment

How many people are brave enough to fly a stars and bars in their yard? There's a guy here in Clinton who's that stupid. Why anyone would want to support whole-heartedly a war we lost is beyond me. It was a silly conflict to begin with, made more pointless by each successive generation's brain dead belief it was rooted in some "good cause".

Author

Ironghost

Date

2007-11-15T14:57:41-06:00

ID

75585

Comment

I'm willing to tolerate different ideas, bluejoe, but seriously if you're going to equate being disgusted by the Confederate flag and nooses with mashed potatoes, I'm going to call you out for being offensive. So consider what you post before you post it, and if you're goign to intentionally be offensive, don't be surprised when people are offended. You have free will. Use it for good, not evil.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-11-15T15:32:41-06:00

ID

75586

Comment

Oh..this is a cute discussion. funny thing. I just kinda stopped to read the comments and Im soooooo glad I stopped in. Kinda ironic since my next album cover is gonna possibly be me burning the state flag. Josh Haley's gonna take the shots. just figuring out how to do it with it draped over me burning without me killing myself lol. the back is gonna be a mirror image with possibly the U.S. flag...Time to make a statement. Ciao!

Author

Kamikaze

Date

2007-11-15T16:03:24-06:00

ID

75587

Comment

How many people are brave enough to fly a stars and bars in their yard? Plenty! There's a guy who lives in a trailer near Trustmark Park who used to fly it sometimes. I haven't been over there in a whie, so I don't know if he still flies it (or lives there).

Author

golden eagle

Date

2007-11-15T16:06:17-06:00

ID

75588

Comment

...since that the US flag thing may incite some flag lovers (and since I think its kinda illegel hee hee) I was thinking of maybe twisting a US flag into a noose and psuedo-hang myself from it.

Author

Kamikaze

Date

2007-11-15T16:06:34-06:00

ID

75589

Comment

I have white clients in jail facing the death penalty whose relative fly the flag. When I go visit their parents and other relatives often many of them take it down. This makes me think they know it's offensive to us. I can tell some of them don't really hate me though by the unusual friendliness I often get from some of them when they get to know me.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-11-15T16:15:40-06:00

ID

75590

Comment

How many people are brave enough to fly a stars and bars in their yard? For what it's worth, the Stars and Bars (aka the First National Flag of the Confederacy) is not the same as the Battle Flag. The Stars and Bars looks more like the Star-Spangled Banner and the proposed new Mississippi flag of the 2001 referendum.

Author

Ex

Date

2007-11-15T22:11:54-06:00

ID

75591

Comment

I know, you're right, Ex. I make that mistake too often. I apologize.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-11-16T10:24:56-06:00