Jackson Free Press

Jackson misses out on booking conventions because of a false perception that the city has a high crime rate, Rickey Thigpen says. Thigpen, executive vice president of the Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau, spoke this morning at the Friday Forum gathering at Koinonia Coffee House.

He told the crowd of about 40 people that the perception of crime the media portrays of Jackson discourages organizations from booking conventions here. "Downtown Jackson is one of the safest places in Mississippi," he said. Despite that reality, negative perceptions occur because local media mainly report on crime, and then local residents don't challenge the coverage, he said.

"Don't allow other people to talk about us and be mute," he said. "There are good things that happen in Jackson. Why occasionally can't that be the lead story?" Thigpen said the JCVB board recently met with The Clarion-Ledger editorial board to discuss the ramifications of slanted reporting.

A regional convention of about 1,300 people can generate $800,000, Thigpen said. He calculates 3.14 million people visited Jackson last year and spent $315 million here. "That represents 20,000 jobs. Tourism is nice, but it's also economic development," he said.

The JVCB is a quasi-governmental agency and an official destination marketing organization with a $3-million annual budget. Thigpen calls the return on the state's investment "tremendous."

Marika Cackett, JVCB communications and public relations manager, said 80 percent of her job is 300 miles outside of Jackson and that 20 percent of it is inside those 300 miles.

"If we don't love a product here, it's a problem. That 20 percent is everything," Cackett said. Outside media are interested in Jackson and want to visit here. She said international reporters come to the city every week -- recently one from as far away as Malaysia came to write about the Freedom Riders 50th anniversary. This week, she is getting calls from all over the nation from reporters wanting to write stories about the movie "The Help" and present-day Jackson. Cackett even has a "The Help" tour she can take them on to sightsee spots mentioned or shown in the movie.

Perceptions at home are harder to crack. Cackett shared the story of one hotel worker who told visiting conventioneers, "I don't know why you're staying down here." Cackett said the JCVB has customer-service training classes to educate people who work in hospitality how to be welcoming, friendly and supportive so the visitors don't go home and tell all their friends and co-workers about the mean people they met in Jackson.

One way to get the positive news in the mainstream media is to talk about the economic impact of visitors to the city, she said. Jackson State University football games bring in about $13 million, for instance.

Thigpen, who has worked for the JCVB for 24 years, said Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. is considering a media tour of Jackson, not for the international and national reporters, but for Mississippi reporters. If that happens, it will be after Oct. 1 when JCVB's fiscal year starts.

"We have to be the voice," Thigpen said. "We have to fix the problems."

Previous Commentsshow

i don't watch local news because local television media continues to be obsessed with crime - if they shifted focus and jumped off the Crime Train, I would return... I believe their addiction to reporting crime hurts this city (and their viewership) immensely. I'll be making my voice heard (again), as i'm sick of hearing about it on an endless loop. At this point, I can pretty much guess what happened on any given day. And as ridiculous as the JPD Crime Reports are in their organization and user-friendliness, I can spend a few minutes and find out what i need to know. Mayor's media tour: colossal waste of time. Local media will only respond to their audience. The Mayor needs to spend that time repairing his "Action Line" because, as I well know, there is little to no "action" behind that "Action Line" -as I enter into year 2 waiting for the vacant yard next to me to be cut... and as i step on snakes and rats in the dark and squeal like a stuck pig. Why can't the Mayor deliver on something so simple as his "Action Line?" Take crime out of the equation - it is difficult to stay excited about Jackson when we are still working on the basics with a Mayor who's danced this dance before... and we're having to train people in the hospitality industry to be hospitable? wow. hate to hear that. now i'm really ready for some positive Jackson news. and a stiff toddy.

bryanms

Aug 12 2011

I, too, stopped watching local TV newscasts because it's one crime story after another at the top. Seriously? Nothing else to report? This is exactly the kind of out-of-context reporting that both media and criminal-justice experts warn against. BTW, the mayor and police chief were at the JFP for two hours today for an editorial board meeting (that they asked for) with more than a half of the time devoted to talk about crime. They also gave us good ideas to pursue for our upcoming preventing-crime issue.

DonnaLadd

Aug 12 2011

It's not a perception (there's that word again). It's reality. I did not perceive the security guard getting killed near where I work recently.Why you people are in such denial about what goes on daily in Jackson befuddles me.

bill_jackson

Aug 13 2011

Local news coverage is typical of any other market I've seen or been in. The question is, how much crime coverage is enough and how much is too much? It certainly needs to be reported, I think we'd all agree.

independent

Aug 13 2011

Bill, you're not listening, or don't want to. The "perception" issue in criminal justice is not and never has been about whether crime exists or happens or is bad. We can stipulate all of that. The question for people who want to think in an effective way about crime is what kind of effect crime sensationalism (especially by media and politicians with nothing else to say) actually has on a community, its economic development and, thus, even higher crime rates. (Because it is bona fide fact that poverty and lack of jobs and "adequate" education in a community lead to higher crime rates; so do legacies of racism that create those conditions but go unleveled). In other words, folks like you who just want to yelp about crime in Jackson are actually help create conditions where we have more of it. Nicely done. For those interested in how media should actually cover crime, there are myriad resources based on real research. Here's one good resource that I hope Clarion-Ledger editors and TV news directors study carefully. Y'all are a huge part of the problem.

DonnaLadd

Aug 13 2011

From that link: Accurate portrayal of crime, its causes and effects not only is the ethical duty of journalists but it also can have an impact on public policy. While elected and appointed officials must bear ultimate responsibility for whatever policies and practices they adopt, history has shown that the way crime news is reported or not reported can affect the actions of legislators and executive branch officials. For example, when juvenile crime increased sharply during the late 1980s, it was common for politicians to call for trying more juveniles in adult courts, which were presumed to be tougher. These pronouncements were widely reported, but research showed that trying kids as adults was not accomplishing that goal in some jurisdictions that adopted it. At least one study found that young defendants sent to adult court had a higher repeat crime rate than did those retained in juvenile court. Better checking by journalists might have informed the public and its elected lawmakers that what sounded like a quick fix was not one. News reports also have been influential in bringing to light a long list of failures in the justice system, including low police rates of solving crimes, officer abuse of suspects, prosecutorial misconduct, and poor conditions in correctional institutions. Of course, exemplary reporting is not limited to exposes. Explanatory stories can be very worthwhile, even if they explore basic questions like what a probation officer does during a typical week, why one city's police officer staffing level is very high compared to others, or how a prosecutor arrives at plea bargains. There are a few outside organizations that play a watchdog role over the justice system, but in many instances it is initiative by news reporters that uncovers the information that sparks reforms.

DonnaLadd

Aug 13 2011

Yet the JFP crowd can harp on and on about that redneck from Pearl that killed the African American man endlessly because it fits with your agenda, and never mention any other of the countless black on black murders which are equally heinous. I don't see you calling for a vigil for the security guard that was killed at the Shell station. Please tell me where the line between sensationalizing crime and merely reporting it is. Are you suggesting the media should just turn a blind eye to those crimes?

bill_jackson

Aug 13 2011

Bill, do you actually read anything before responding to it??? The "redneck from Pearl" is accused of leading a group of white teenagers to find a black man to "mess with" -- which seems to have meant "murder." This used to be called a lynching in our state, and is a primary reason that we have the black-on-black crimes that we do, which we indeed have talked about. Do you know how many white Mississippians responded to those white-on-black race crimes in the 1960s and before? They pointed to crimes committed (or supposed committed in many cases) by black people and said: What about those? It was an excuse to help cover racism then, and it is now. I also bet you have no idea that former Chief Robert Moore, the one the Ledger and other media lifted out of context on what he said about "perception," was an expert on black-on-black crime when he was with the U.S. Marshals. I never heard the media ask him a word about it. They were too busy misquoting him. As for death of the security guard at the Shell station, it is terrible. It is a different kind of crime, and that does not make it not-terrible. It is the kind of crime that it takes a real dedication to education, creating jobs, shrinking poverty, reducing access to guns and reversing a three-centuries old cycle of violence in order to prevent from happening. It is also the kind of crime that folks like you and the media go on and on and on about just about every day in Jackson -- so you can't argue with a straight face that it isn't getting the attention you want. Meantime, when we ask for ideas from folks like you on how to prevent these kinds of crimes, it's either "the family should do it!" or crickets chirping because you got nothin' beyond whining to offer to the conversation. Meantime, hate crimes in our state never have gotten that kind of attention from actual citizens like yourself -- who somehow want to every-damn-time want to compare them with black-on-black crimes as if that somehow means that we should act like white people did back in the 1960s and not get outraged that young white kids in 21st century Mississippi are still looking for random black people to "mess with." So how about this: Good citizens of all races in the metro can come together for a vigil against hate crime WHILE we get together and figure out to reverse these cycles for young black men in our community. That might even mean spending a few dollars or more time mentoring. Because, you know, intelligent people can hold more than one thought at once. And if they want to actually change things, they have to.

DonnaLadd

Aug 13 2011

The crime problem in Jackson is much like other large cities I have lived in. Those being ( Ft Lauderdale Fla ,St. Louis Mo, Richmond Va,and Las Vegas). The thing those cities had going for them are, Good roads, activities, Clean hotel rooms, and Police who throw criminals in jail. I have personally witnessed police let a man who ran into the back of my car, had no insurance, no driver license, and a 2000 dollar fine not paid . They let him walk away. I really like this city and that's something that has surprised me. I did not think I would. The reason has mostly to do with the people of Jackson, They can be its greatest asset or its biggest liability. People coming to Jackson for a convention or any other reason have a right to feel safe. The matter should be one of attraction and not so much promotion. If you not part of the solution maybe your part of the problem. Lets work together and find solutions. OH, Fixing the roads is where I would start.

MICKE

Aug 13 2011

While crime is rather high in Jackson, I believe what feeds the perception about crime here is the repeating cycle of these stories. If a man is shot in the leg (as Tom puts it), how many times will it be repeated in a typical day? Also, the media and those who love to bash Jackson at the drop of dime makes it seem as if this city is out of control, even at times worse than a war-torn city in the Middle East. Or how about the tagline that people are prisoners in their own homes? That's simply not true. When I drive around Jackson, I see children riding their bicycles, adults out jogging, or having a good time in the Fondren area. Heck, the kids next door to me sometimes play basketball out in the rain. Prisoners in their own homes, eh? Bill, what is your solution to fight crime in Jackson?

golden eagle

Aug 15 2011

Donna, I have to pack for a trip, but I've a question - does anyone have the capitated property and violent crime rates for Jackson? And also for Madison, Pearl, Ridgeland, Richland, Flowood, Byram, Clinton and Brandon? Capitated=unit of crime per 100 or 1000 inhabitants. It may not be apples to apples, but it least you can make a statistical fruit salad of the same size chunks.

Pilgrim

Aug 15 2011

I don't know that we do, Pilgrim, but as we have started a big prevent-crime project for a special issue, we'll see what we can find. Thanks for the suggestion, and for defining "capitated" for me. ;-)

DonnaLadd

Aug 15 2011

"Bill, what is your solution to fight crime in Jackson? " Plain and simple, but it's a long term solution. The cycle of teenage pregnancy and fatherless children must be broken. It starts there. That is undeniable. Any other solution(s) must address that. And a police department that is responsive in a timely manner wouldn't hurt, either. I was born and & raised in this town. I know it wasn't always this way.

bill_jackson

Aug 16 2011

Bill, Jackson has always been an extremely violent city. When you were growing up, it was more white-on-black crime, granted, but it was very violent and terroristic even. And sure, law enforcement ignored those crimes for the most part and were even supportive of that violence; do you call that better law enforcement than today? I'm also curious about your "plain and simple" solution of stopping "teenage pregnancy and fatherless children." What are your specific solutions? And what do you believe are the roots of those issues? I assume you believe that stopping those issues means figuring out what causes them, no?

DonnaLadd

Aug 16 2011

Bill, I'll agree with you some about the fatherless children. The teenage pregnancy issue...I'm not gonna touch that. Even with that, those are long-term solutions. I also agree with faster police response, but simply responding doesn't stop crime. Will there more police patrolling? More cops?

golden eagle

Aug 16 2011

No,Donna, Jackson has not always been an extremely violent city. Sure during the civil rights era it was, no doubt. By the 70s, not so much. The most violent thing I can remember from then was the shootout between The Republic of New Afrika bunch and the JPD/FBI. And the solution to the single parent plague? I suppose we should go back to when the out-of-wedlock rate wasn't so high and compare the societal norms for then vs now. I'm not saying I have all the answers, but it's fairly plain to me that that would be a good starting point. Society has to WANT to change before it can.

bill_jackson

Aug 16 2011

Sounds like we've read through decades of different archives, Bill. First, it wasn't just the "civil rights era" when white terrorism reigned in Jackson and all of Mississippi. It was our entire history at least until the early '70s. Then there might have been a crime or two more than you're not remembering in the 1970s -- interesting to me that the only one you remember involved an FBI-JPD dawn raid on armed blacks, complete with the Thompson tank. Then the drug war/crack era kicked in full force by the 1980s and peaked by mid-1990s. Crime has dropped dramatically since then (although it spiked a bit during Melton era.) Also, crime trends have shown that in many of our recent years, Jackson has enjoyed the lowest violent crime rates in decades. Of course, the mainstream media isn't going to tell you that. And where do you hear about crime, but from the media. Our glory days, Bill, are most certainly not behind us. Jackson was a hateful, hateful place prior to the 1970s, and we're still dealing with the effects of that white-on-black terrorism. Our best years are ahead if we start getting smart about preventing crime and stop blaming teen mothers for problems with much deeper and more difficult roots than that. It's fine to look at "out-of-wedlock" rates, but why not look at our history of destroying the black family unit, first through slavery, then Jim Crow and now through the Drug War? If you want strong families, there's a whole lot the rest of our society has to make up for. Iagree with your last sentence, but its going to take some serious reckoning about where these problems stem from and what needs to be done about it. Simplistic rhetoric about teen pregnancy won't get us there, even though I want to see teen pregnancy lowered myself. We need to start with good sex education and access to birth control and go from there. I assume you're a mentor of young people? That's one place to start.

DonnaLadd

Aug 16 2011

I'll regret this but I think you're being unfair with Bill on this thing. There may have been alot of murders in the white supremacy days in Jackson but not even close to what there are now. And I think what he was saying about the Dedmon crime was that sensationlizing that by local and national media does much more harm to both the city and the state than reporting day to day crimes. It makes it appear as though it's something other than an isolated incident. Murder is hate and all murder is a "hate crime" in my opinion that is the most ridiculous thing ever dreamed up by politicians. When there is black on white crime it doesn't appear anyone questions the hate part of that nor does it make national news. Jim Crow laws aren't killing people in Jackson today and if you want what I'm sure will be an opinion that will be belittled by you, we need to focus on today, not 1958 to solve our problems. Placing blame on old dead white men seems to justify what we have today in alot of peoples minds. You don't have to forget the past but I think we would do alot more to achieve our goal of a crime free capital city if we looked at the present problems our city faces. To be frank I wish I had a solution but unfortunately Jackson is a reflection of our country meaning there doesn't seem to be any and things continue to get worse. Now we have "flash mobs" to add to our ever growing civil problems. No I'm not longing for "the good ole days" but I would like to live in an environment of personal responsibility and reprocussions for one's actions. I know there were alot of mean white men back then but people also seemed to respect each other a little more. The only thing that will ever solve our problems is too far gone to fix and that is the elimination of drugs in this country. Not being critical but maybe it's time to quit beating men who are probably in hell now and focus on that one negative issue that has no positive effects. Boy I'm going to regret opening my mouth on this I'm sure.

Alex0393

Aug 17 2011

Why yes, I mentor my two sons, as it should be. It doesn't take a village, it takes a mommy & a daddy.

bill_jackson

Aug 17 2011

Alex and Bill, no surprises in your responses. That's what we typically hear from the white community -- sorry if I'm assuming incorrectly -- in today's world about crime almost as a collective chorus. We also hear it from people of other races, but not as in synch. But let's stop for a minute, if you will allow, and think and discuss some different ideas. I suggest opening your mind just for a little bit to the idea that our nation's white supremacy and habits based on it -- which was codified into our state's laws until very recently -- have left us with a mess that you can't just blink away by proclaiming that it just takes a mommy and a daddy! First, y'all know as well as I do that some families with both a mommy and daddy completely muck up their kids -- especially the ones that teach them that they're better than the other or who fight all the time or where the daddy beats mama (and often the kids) into submission. So, maybe we can agree that that is an overly simplistic and optimistic solution? Let's try the 30,000-feet exercise this way, gentlemen (and borrow a trick from John Grisham's "Time to Kill"). First, think about your own family and its struggles. I don't know about yours, but I've watched alcoholism affect generations in my own family and those of people I love. That is, one alcoholic father or mother can cause misery for generations. Can we agree on that? (If not, peek into the research on it.)

DonnaLadd

Aug 17 2011

Then take it a step further. Imagine that your great-great-great-great granddaddy and grandmama were brought here on a slave ship. (For this exercise, please imagine your slavemasters with darker skin and different from you.) When they got here, your grands were put on a slave block separately; perhaps even their kids were sold to different masters, or maybe they went with the mama until they got old enough to be sold differently. (Remember to keep visualizing these folks as white; important here.) Once they got on the plantations, they were chattel. If they tried to escape they were beaten or killed as an example to others. Or their heels were "hobbled" (cut so they couldn't run again, or walk well for that matter.) They were forced to work long days without breaks in the hot sun. (See Mississippi Articles of Secession for a decent description of how it was.) And impt here: Your grandparents' family unit was destroyed. Your oppressors thought of them as non-human (to justify their horrible treatment); thus, why would a family matter?. Quite likely, the slavemaster had his way with your grandmother leading to generations of (in your case) darker children in your family. Your family was forced to take the master's name and assimilate (sort of) into his culture. Meantime, the slavemaster transferred his sins onto you, spreading far and wide that white men just wanted to rape black women (in this alternative scenario); that helped justify your people's horrible treatment. Then after a war supposedly freed your grandparents, the state's power structure (which was all slavemasters or people who supported them) got back together and came up with White Codes and Bill Crow laws to keep your grandparents' kids from becoming schooled, voting, owning property or using front doors. The laws also allowed violence against them if they did, thus continuing the cycle of violence. Oh, and the Ku Klux Klan sprang up to keep your people in their places if you tried to step out. Then, lynching became the tool of choice to send a message to your people that their young men would be hung from trees if they stepped out of line. Lynching parties were common with women and children of your master's race pointing and staring and laughing at your relatives hanging in trees while law enforcement milled about. People even sent around postcards with the pictures of the lynched men on them to friends and families. Imagine these practices continuing into your own lifetime. Your people were also promised 20 acres and a mule from the people who had profited and built wealth using them as free labor, but did not get it. They had to scrape and share-crop to get by in a system that did not allow them to build wealth.

DonnaLadd

Aug 17 2011

By this time, your people had assimilated in various ways into the culture of their oppressors -- from sharing many of the religious traditions (making them their own, in part, to help them survive their terrorism) and in some tragic cases, learning that violence is the way successful people get things done. Or at least survive. Perhaps you or your own son was born into this climate of fear and violence in the 1960s, perhaps in a part of the city where many people like you had fled to from the dangerous countryside where it was harder to hide from the lynch mobs. Maybe you lived in a shotgun house with several other kids; perhaps by then your daddy had already disappeared or been sent to prison. Maybe he actually did what he was accused of; maybe he didn't; juries then assumed your type was guilty. You were also born into a time when whites like you were not allowed to accumulate wealth or were redlined out of buying property on which to build a strong family unit. Even if they had figured out a way to make higher wages, they weren't allowed to move into many neighborhoods; they weren't called by courtesy titles but had to call members of the "master" race Mr. or Miss or Mrs. Every part of our society told you or your son that he was a second-rate citizen. Maybe you were even smart enough to overcome the laws that tried to keep you dumb, violent and second rate. Maybe you could pass the poll test and knew how many bubbles were in a bar of soap, but even then, maybe a mob with bats kept you out of the polling place. Every day, you were told you weren't good enough and all that was expected of you was to be a criminal. During your childhood, perhaps, most voters of Mississippi (who were allowed to vote; not your people) went to the polls and voted to close the public schools instead of allow your people's kids to mix with theirs. They set up private segregation academies where they would teach new generations of kids that all this was your people's fault, that your people were the cause of all the crime, that y'all couldn't pick yourselves up and make something of yourselves, so don't throw good money at your people. Your people just want handouts, anyway, the kids were taught in these seg schools. They were also told that the civil war that "freed" your people wasn't about slavery, it was about economics. Oh, and that your people could be "racist," too, and that "it happens everywhere." Oh, and all the problems in your community? Your mommy and daddy's fault. Where are they? Your oppressors' folks fled the city, taking their many-decades' worth of wealth with them, and thus tax base and jobs. They started developing cow pastures into development where they could live and work, even as many of your people couldn't afford the transportation to get there to work. Over the years, many of your people followed as they could afford to, leaving behind even more weakened communities that desperately need successful role models. Ironically, many of your oppressors' people fled to cow pastures farther and farther out as enough of your people followed -- scientists call it the "tipping point" when there are too many of your people in a neighborhood for them to stay there -- making it harder for young people in your community to work there. The words "left behind" start to resonate. Since then, the laws have changed, but your economic conditions didn't, and couldn't, change overnight. Maybe some of your family's kids "escaped" to get a better education; maybe others stayed behind to work fast food to feed the family; maybe still others took their business skills to the streets to sell the drugs your oppressors pumped into your community. Maybe they're in prison now. Or maybe they're out, taught in prison to be more hardened prisoners and commit worse crimes on the outside. Maybe they're teaching, or modeling, the same behavior to their kids. Many of them can't vote because of a drug felony; others don't bother because they don't have real choices. Besides, about all the politicians talk about is catching the thugs in your community, anyway. Even if you're doing OK by now, maybe there are members of your family who haven't been strong enough to "escape" yet. Some might even have suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome from the horrors of the recent past; maybe they passed it down. Regardless, you hear every day (usually from the children of your oppressors) about how criminal or even lazy your people are (ironic considering who actually built the state, you think, and how cruel and violent your oppressors were); your kids and grandkids are growing up in a climate where very little is expected of them. When crime happens in your community, it's top of the news, perhaps with the nearby high school (which is all your race, still) flashed on the screen just because and everyone points fingers and blames your mama and daddy, but you know what they were up against. When kids in your oppressors' neighborhoods kill people, you hear "how can that happen in a 'good' community?" or "they had good parents; how did they go wrong!?!", and you hang your head and cry.

DonnaLadd

Aug 17 2011

Meantime, state lawmakers get votes off your backs, spewing thinly veiled rhetoric about your people. Anonymous local bloggers state outright constantly that most crime is committed by people who look like you. They have no interest in the cycles of violence committed against you and your family or what to do about it. They blame your people for every bad thing that happens while downplaying crimes by their own people. They run from neighborhoods when people like you move in, not caring what that does to your children's self-worth. They campaign against even "adequate" education for your children and call your people "welfare queens" trying to take all their money, regardless of whether it's true. You watch as too many of your young people fall prey to the violent cycles, repeating the habits of their oppressors, but too often against each other. You do what you can, but you can only mentor so many young people yourself. And too many men like you are already in prison for falling for the scheme to sell their drugs or buy their guns. You know you can't break the cycle alone and wish the good people who don't look like you would stop blaming you and start working with you to change the future for everyone. Meantime, politicians of their race and yours scream at each other that the other isn't screaming loudly enough about crime, even as headlines show that 1 in 3 Mississippi children live in poverty. Your shoulders slump lower. You don't want excuses or handouts; you want equal opportunity for your family or at least the understanding that the playing field has never been level because not enough people know, or care, that it's not. You don't want to be blamed for the rules of a game that your oppressors established. You just want it to stop. ____ The past matters, gentlemen. You have two choices: Learn form it and use that information, or ignore it at the community's peril and point fingers at the other.

DonnaLadd

Aug 17 2011

And Alex, you are wrong about what a "hate crime" is, but I'll come back to that later. Just used it up on that post.

DonnaLadd

Aug 17 2011

Honestly, Donna, I do believe you could pin global warming and the debt ceiling fiasco on Mississippi's past if you set your mind to it.

bill_jackson

Aug 17 2011

That's the best you got, Bill? Then get the hell out of the way of the diverse (ethnically, politically and otherwise) Mississippians who are trying to use knowledge of the past to improve our future. I have no patience for people like you who have no desire to face reality. Our state can do better than that level of ignorance. With due respect.

DonnaLadd

Aug 17 2011

Some people just can't handle the truth!

wataworld

Aug 17 2011

Truer words never said. But people don't know what they don't know--especially if they went to schools where real history was intentionally not taught.

DonnaLadd

Aug 17 2011

Honestly, Bill, I do believe you could refuse to acknowledge pertinent social issues and both their current and previous affects on the evolution of the African-American family if put your mind to it.

Lori G

Aug 17 2011

Bravo Donna for that “30,000 ft.” view of the reality facing this country and Mississippi specifically. As I have been observing the debates about “The Help”; my wife pointed out an important point concerning historical fiction. In order for that fiction to work, the author has to depict the fictional story in a historically accurate setting (as possible) so that the reader can invest in the story. The problem with “The Help” is that the author does a poor job of setting the context of the relationships between domestic workers and white women in MS during that time. By ignoring the reality of sexual harassment, the threat of violence, and the economic terror of the loss of employment if they joined the movement; the author makes it very hard for knowledgeable readers to respect and invest in the main narrative. The sad part about “the Help” is that though the setting is historically inaccurate, it reveals how many white people in MS actually view the history of race relations in the state. Many whites do not respect the level of devastation and terror that was visited upon generations of black Mississippians as a result of that wretched history (as evidenced by Bill’s response to your post). Many whites don’t want to make the connection between that history and the reality of today. The danger is that perception shapes reality. As evidenced by the political and economic climate of MS today, progress in MS is hampered because the predominant civic, business and political leadership (which is mostly white) in this state has a self-serving, romanticized view of the history of race relations in MS (case in point, Haley Barbour‘s characterization of the White Citizen’s Council as a agent to keep out the Klan). Thus, they do not see its culpability and responsibility situating many poor blacks in those contexts, and subsequently propping up many whites in their comfortable suburbs and private schools. You are right Donna when you note that this state was built on the backs of many enslaved Africans and their free labor. It is downright shameful, and I dare say, evil for much of the political and economic elite of this state to claim that the present level of poverty and inequality along racial lines in MS is due to many black people not accepting responsibility and overcoming the obstacles of poverty that is the direct result of generations of state sanctioned terror, and present day indifference and institutional injustice. In a state that claims to be “the most Christian” in the Union, really? That’s almost blasphemous.

Renaldo Bryant

Aug 17 2011

I agree with everything you said, Blackwatch. Thank you for posting. I'll say it again: The irony of the whole thing is that embracing knowledge of our real history is freeing--white people can break the chains of hate and blame that were put into place by very guilty people to justify their horrendous treatment of black human beings in order to benefit from them economically. I learned from personal experience that knowledge, and willingness to talk about it, is the best way to break the shame. And it will take that to break the cycles. Look, Lacey reported in her amazing story about Yazoo City and the Citizens Council that the Council said outright that they needed to indoctrinate young people in order to keep them fearful of blacks and, thus, keep segregation in place. They succeeded. Look at our city now and all the areas whites fled from, throwing blame back over their shoulder as the screen doors hit their butts. It is time for new generations to get to know our history intimately and then use it to save our city and our state. It won't work otherwise, and it'll be be battles of words that end up with white people supporting a black man who spews them the loudest, like my friend Frank Melton. *That* is the real tragedy of his story: the way he was used. Break the chains, folks.

DonnaLadd

Aug 17 2011

I agree Blackwatch and Donna, and I've said for decades, the only thing that makes the South the bible belt is the number of bibles in existence laying somewhere on a table. What's in the Bible is rarely practiced when it comes to race relations. How can it be when so many preachers were klansmen and engaging in cross burning and countless support events for obvious racist and terrorists. Things have gotten better, but some things remain close to the same. I think what the haters of us want us to do is succeed in face of abject racism, Jim Crowism and slavery like we used too. And if we can't do that, it's our own faults. Comedian Alonzo Bodden joked a while back that Jackie Robinson was supposed to hit a single then steal all the way home. Otherwise, he was a sorry black som..... that wasn't worth being in the major leagues.

Walt

Aug 17 2011

I agree 100%! All of the problems this country faces today are due to slavery and racism! Now how do we fix them?

independent

Aug 17 2011

Well, we can start by doing every thing in our power to stop demonizing young people of color (and all young people), acting like they are "thugs" because they grow in a certain neighborhood, dress a certain way, listen to a certain kind of music. We can fully fund public education *and* figure out how to improve them, and dump the dumbassery that was "No Child Left Behind." We can each mentor at least one young person who is not our own child. We can treat "the other" with respect and make sure they know we expect the best out of them. We can support policies that bring jobs to inner cities. We can get behind Early Childhood Education (don't get Jim Barksdale started.) We can realize that poverty leads to conditions that breed crime; thus, we can tackle poverty in a meaninful way. We can speak out against any and all media that sensationalize crime and lift it out of context, creating helplessness in a community. We can go to COPS meetings in our neighborhoods and work *with* our police department instead of whining that they aren't stopping all the crime or screaming loudly enough about it. We can get out of our homes and into our neighborhood and get to know our neighbors (I'm very guilty on this one because I work so much). We can look out for each other and learn what kinds of suspicious activity to report. We can build relationships with kids we know don't have good family situations. (This is simply life-changing when we do it.) We can stop treating children who get in trouble like adults, since the research proves this turns them into worse criminals. We can say "hey" to young people, look them in the eye and talk to them. OK, there's a few off the top of my head. Y'all join in with others. I don't want to hog the list. (BTW, we're putting out a special issue on Crime and how to prevent it soon, so this is oh-so-helpful.)

DonnaLadd

Aug 17 2011

And here's a challenge: Everyone reading this--no matter who you are, your race or your politics--should decide to do one thing new in the next 24 hours that might help prevent crime. Just one. Then do another the next day. And so on.

DonnaLadd

Aug 17 2011

Wow! I actually do all of those things already! And I buy locally grown produce! Bill Clinton's got nuthin' on me!

independent

Aug 17 2011

Oh, and for God's sake, hold all young people to high standards and teach them the skills they need to be successful. Don't assume anyone can't learn. I meet too many young people passing through (all all races) who have not been taken seriously by teachers in public and private schools. Not to sound like Bush (he meant it differently), but no more bigotry of low-expectations. Only support media that put at least as many positive images of groups of people (especially young ones) as they do negative. Seriously, turn it off or cancel the subscription if they don't. Those types of (usually corporate) media organizations are profiting off making our community worse. Correct people who talk about young people as if they're hopeless. Challenge them, and point out when they're inconsistent like when talking about young people of color differently than they talk about white kids.

DonnaLadd

Aug 17 2011

(BTW, I moved my entire black-white role reversal post to its own blog entry, and added a ton of links that explain some of my references in it. Please take a look at it there if you haven't: For One Moment: A Black-White Role Reversal.)

DonnaLadd

Aug 17 2011

That's great, independent. Then it sounds like your assignment is to out and make sure that all your family members and friends are on board. Imagine the difference you could make. Do you not have any to add to the list?

DonnaLadd

Aug 17 2011

We are! And we don't associate with people who have blinders on or are close minded. And I would suggest getting involved in youth sports, for those so inclined. It's a great way to have a positive impact on tons of young people of all backgrounds. And did I mention locally grown…aw, nevermind. ;-)

independent

Aug 17 2011

Having just collected my fourth JPD "Victim Card" I may be a bit emotional about this. The problem with Jackson Crime - and I can attest that it is not just a perception - is that it is largely a 'crabs in a bucket' situation. My 1997 Honda Civic, parked behind Broad Street Bakery and Cafe off the Frontage Road of I-55 near Northside Drive, under a huge light, had the window busted out and stuff stolen from inside last night. Why was it parked there? My roommate works the night shift there and we currently share the car. Its not like I have much of anything or there was anything worth stealing in the car. My oilskin duster was taken, ratty and roughly customized as it was. I had glued fabric to the bottom to cover a couple holes and to extend the length for better rain protection. They may have taken my oilskin hat, a dc to ac plug in converter and a 2' tripod. That's about all I can imagine was worth anything, unless my roommate left his cigarettes on the seat. I've been in the Jackson area for 6 years and racked up three car thefts and an apartment break-in theft. All in Jackson, nothing ever recovered, nobody ever caught. When my apartment off of High Street, behind Chimneyville at the corner of Harding and Madison streets, was broken into, the PD just searched my place for drugs and handed me a Victim card. When neighbors pointed a guy out, I called the police and they questioned him, but since none of the neighbors would testify, they just said, 'he said he didn't do it,' and moved on. When I first worked in Jackson, I slept in a tent in Lefleur's Bluff state park. I have friends who were homeless when they got here and lived on the streets, at Red Cross and other places, some sofa surfed for months before they got on their feet. I've never stolen anything from anyone. I will go VERY far out of my way to help people. I don't understand why anyone would steal something from me. The long-term solution is Education. No matter a student's home life, we need schools where they are listened to, disciplined, respected, taught respect, taught critical thinking, taught empathy and educated about history, language, culture, math, grammar.... But until we - everyone - are willing to step out of our comfort zones and try for some positive change, it will go on being the same old story. Every day, I reach a point where I want to throw my hands up, pull back into my comfort zone and just look out for me and mine. But Mississippi is worth fighting for. Our people, our kids, our environment - its all worth fighting for. So, even if you are just just barely keeping your own head above water, don't be like crabs in a bucket, reach out and help keep your neighbor above water too, have them reach out and those reach out.

BobbyKearan

Aug 18 2011