Jackson Free Press

Cue the ominous voice: "Imagine for a moment this road is our county line. This side represents one of the most violent cities in the nation. Over here, on our side, one of the most desirable communities in America to raise a family." Thank you, Madison County sheriff candidate Mark Sandridge, for one of the most offensive campaign ads we've seen in recent memory. Was this ad another racist attempt to scare white folks into voting for a supposedly law-and-order candidate who's going to keep them safe from all the black folks to the south? Perhaps. You could certainly sense that in the clip that aired at Malco Theater in Madison until corporate pulled it under fire.

Regardless, there is more at play here, and it's decidedly anti-family. The direct statement in this video is that it's "desirable" to raise a family in Madison County—a county that has its own share of crime, including heinous domestic abuse, not to mention the added (and greater) dangers of commuting daily in a driving-while-texting world.

This kind of cheap divisiveness hurts the greater metro area, because it turns us into us-vs.-them. It's the kind of rhetoric that makes people believe Jackson is one of the most violent cities (actually, we're not, although car break-ins are pretty numerous in our poor city), and one to stay away from. That is exactly the wrong tactic if you want to strengthen families and decrease crime. And it sends the direct message to the young people of our city—especially those born into tough circumstances, as many of us were—that there is little hope for them. They live in a hellhole, and they're bound to be criminals. That shatters hope.

And it's a damn lie. This city is on fire with progress and change and the excitement of diverse groups working together. Families are returning to the relative safety (and lower fuel bills) of city life where they are becoming part of a greater community that, in turn, helps them raise stronger, more brilliant children who aren't encoded with fear of "the other" or "them."

Most wonderfully, the patience for such ugly demagoguery has changed dramatically since this paper launched almost a decade ago in a media climate that thrived off sensationalism and scaring people to death to raise ratings and sell ads to businesses in the suburbs. Intelligent people throughout the metro are beginning to know that we thrive or fail together, and many of them spoke out loudly against this ad both to the candidate and to Malco management this week.

This kind of divisiveness, whether from the city outward or the suburbs inward, is just another form of hate. It will destroy families and our community spirit if we let it. But we showed this week that we will not allow it to. Hateful divisiveness is out of style in the Jackson metro. Pass it on.

Previous Commentsshow

Isn't pointing out that Madison has alot of not just domestic abuse but "heinous" domestic abuse somewhat vindictive? Is the domestic abuse in Jackson which in alot of cases results in a spouse being killed less "heinous" than whatever earned that remark for Madison? And are we to assume that Madison has cell phones and Jackson doesn't? The first comment was vindictive, the second a lame attempt to find something, anything, negative to point out, collectively they are "divisive" and indict an entire city. But there's a difference when "they" do it about you though right? I could enjoy this magazine much more if so much of it weren't dedicated to bashing a city full of people who try to keep it a decent place to live, and are succeeding. Because of that we're "pretentous" "divisive" "racist" and apparently we beat our wives harder than they do in Jackson

Alex0393

May 12 2011

Alex, To be clear, all of our counties have "heinous" domestic abuse. Re cell phones: Of course, you're in danger of crazy drivers anywhere. But the fact is that people who live in the city often don't have to go over 30 miles per hour to get to work; thus, the "danger" of a "violent" car accident are much less, just as the "danger" of being a victim of a "violent" crime is very small in the city if you're not buying or selling illicit drugs. (We can save the drug war conversation for a different time.) There is nothing vindictive or lame in this editorial. We are stating FACTS, which is more than I can say for all of the people who think they are "safer" living in Madison County. It's simply not true when you actually look at the facts. And if you read everything we've written in the last several days, you will see that the JFP is is not dividing Jackson and Madison; nor do we accept the stereotypes about Madison Countians, either (and I have called out one of our columnists for doing that repeatedly this week and in recent months). So, with due respect, your comment about "bashing" another county is simply defensive B.S. What we are doing is defending our city against unfair and inaccurate attacks AND saying that it is not right to stereotype people in the suburbs. Those are two intelligent thoughts that are easy to hold at the same time if you care to reject the division. Your entire post shows that you are not actually reading what we're writing. Before you accuse of these things again, you're going to need to actually read what we write.

DonnaLadd

May 12 2011