A Weekend Reflection on Mississippi

March 2, 2024

A weekend reflection on our travels down the Mississippi

We are nearing the end of our road trip down the Mississippi from Minneapolis to New Orleans. We met with two dozen readers on Friday at the Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, Mississippi. (Picture below.)

On our two-week trip, we had the privilege of meeting with hundreds of grassroots activists fighting to preserve democracy and equality in states where reactionary forces are attempting to suppress those twin pillars of American freedom. Their struggle is frequently frustrating, lonely, and thankless.

Yet, they do not relent. They support causes and candidates that frequently lose because of gerrymandered districts, voter suppression, entrenched corruption, state party infrastructures that are (sometimes) moribund, and a national party that seems resigned to perpetual defeat in red states. But when they lose, they pick themselves up, roll up their sleeves, and start over.

They are not giving up. How can we?

The grassroots activists we met are following the still visible footsteps of the civil rights advocates of the 1950s and 1960s. In Memphis, Tennessee and Jackson, Mississippi, the traces and scars of those battles still shape the landscape of cities struggling with their pasts and futures.

We visited the National Civil Rights Museum and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Memphis and Jackson, respectively. Each is powerful and humbling in its own way. In Memphis, the brooding presence of Martin Luther King Jr. infuses every aspect of a museum that embraces and enfolds the Lorraine Hotel, the site of MLK’s assassination.

As you approach the entrance to the National Civil Rights Museum, you walk past the balcony where MLK was shot, and you step over a narrow concrete channel that traces the path of the bullet from the still extant balcony of the hotel on S. Main Street where the assassin laid in wait. The emotional impact is visceral. The rest of the museum is equally moving.

On Friday, we attended the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, expecting that it could not match the experience of visiting the Lorraine Motel. It did. And more. Mississippi was ground zero for many of the defining moments of the civil rights movements. The exhibits trace slavery from its ugly beginnings to present-day echoes and rear-guard battles by descendants of the Old South reluctant to recognize full equality for descendants of enslaved peoples.

 At every turn, I was surprised to learn facts about American history that I did not know. For example,

• The first American killed in the Revolutionary War was an escaped slave of African and Indigenous origin, Crispus Attucks.

• Reconstruction ended in 1877 because both parties in the 1876 presidential election claimed the 20 electoral votes of South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. To break the deadlock, House Democrats agreed to award the election to Rutherford B. Hayes in exchange for an unwritten agreement by Republicans to withdraw federal troops from the South. So began the Jim Crow Era.

As we returned to our hotel, the words of the 15th Amendment were fresh in mind:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Hours earlier, in the same hotel lobby, we had a chance encounter with attorney Ezra D. Rosenberg of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Ezra was staying at our hotel as he and his team represent the plaintiffs in a voting rights case challenging state legislative districts drawn by the Republican-controlled legislature in Mississippi. See AP, Attorneys argue over whether Mississippi legislative maps dilute Black voting power.

Per the AP, plaintiffs allege that

Mississippi legislators diluted the power of Black voters by drawing too few majority-Black state House and Senate districts after the most recent Census.

Lawyers for Mississippi allege that the gerrymandered districts represent partisan bias, not racial bias. Again, according to the AP, a lawyer for Mississippi argued that although

Mississippi cannot ignore its history of racial division . . . “The days of voter suppression and intimidation are, thankfully, behind us.”

It is demonstrably false that “the days of voter suppression and intimidation” are in the past in Mississippi—and much of the nation.

Ezra and his colleagues at the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights seek to enforce the promise of the 15th Amendment on behalf of Black voters in a federal courtroom only a few blocks from the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

A museum exhibit lists every known lynching in Mississippi from 1868 through 1949. The exhibit includes the lynching of Rev. Isaac Simmons in 1944. His offense is listed as “Hiring a lawyer to protect land title.”

Eighty years ago in Mississippi, a Black minister was murdered for the offense of hiring a lawyer to protect his farm. Today, Black voters are represented by a lawyer in a lawsuit to enforce a promise made in the Constitution 155 years ago.

For Mississippi to claim that “the days of voter suppression and intimidation are in the past” is itself an effort to perpetuate voter suppression and intimidation by denying the reality of the lived experience of Black voters in Mississippi. See, e.g., Stripping Away The Power of a Vote In Mississippi - Democracy Docket

After touring the museum exhibits, we gathered in an upper room to meet readers of the newsletter and their guests. We had a lively discussion. But like many meetings on our trip down the Mississippi, we heard concerns from readers about daunting challenges and a sense of abandonment by the national and state parties.

I delivered my usual message of hope, determination, and confidence in our ultimate victory. In candor, that message was a heavier lift in Mississippi because of the persistent and pervasive manifestations of the institution of slavery—which shaped—and still shapes—social and political structures in the state.

One of the guests was Ty Pinkins. Ty is running for US Senator in the 2024 election, challenging Republican incumbent Roger Wicker. Ty Pinkins was born and raised in Mississippi, served in the Army for 21 years, served three combat tours, served as a Communication Aide to President Obama, obtained his JD from Georgetown Law, and is a co-founder of a community youth organization.

[Ty’s campaign video is here: Ty for Mississippi | US Senate (typinkins.com). If you want to feel good about the future of Mississippi, watch his video.]

Ty faces an uphill (but not impossible) battle. He is an impressive candidate. Jill and I will be supporting Ty by holding a fundraiser for him in March (ahead of the first reporting deadline). Details to follow. A strong showing is important for Ty to unlock additional funding from the party.

Jill wrote the following about our meeting with Ty in her blog today:

Robert and I toured the museum before the Today's Edition reader meeting, where Robert and his readers discussed the way forward for Mississippi and the nation in these challenging political times. 

The Museum was a poignant reminder of those who came before, who had suffered, died, and fought for equality, equity, and human dignity.

Now. It is up to us. We must continue the fight. And part of that fight includes electing like-minded people to leadership positions.

That's why we will be supporting Ty Pinkins as the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Mississippi. He will be part of the way forward.

Jill’s video blog of our tour of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum is here: Day 10: The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum (everydaywithjill.com).

Mississippi has not had a Black US Senator since the Reconstruction Era and last elected a Democratic Senator in 1982. But the recent strong performance by Democrat Brandon Presley in the race for governor is a hopeful sign that Black voters in Mississippi can end the century-plus absence of a Black voice in the US Senate representing the 37% of Mississippians who are descendants of enslaved people.

High-paid consultants and Democratic operatives might overlook Ty Pinkins’ campaign. If we ignore Mississippi (and other red states), they will get the wrong message. We must not forget them. They are heroes of a resistance holding the bulwark during a dark and challenging period. They deserve our unqualified support. They have ours.

Concluding Thoughts.

If you are still reading, thank you for sticking with me during a rambling reflection on our travels. I have learned a lot and have reinforced my previous belief that we cannot allow any election to go uncontested. Including a Democratic candidate in every race—even against long odds—will redound to the benefit of other Democrats up and down the ballot (including Joe Biden). And even if the Democratic candidate loses in the current election, they are preparing the ground for future elections.

We are heading to New Orleans from Jackson, Mississippi, for our final reader meeting.

Two final notes:

First, the race for CA Congressional District 22 needs some last minute, emergency help. Democrats are in danger of being shut out in the “jungle primary” election for a congressional seat that should be winnable by a Democrat. Please check out the link, here, In CD-22, Let’s Rally Volunteers to Prevent a Potential Dem Shutout - Google Docs.

Second, a note of deep gratitude to the many readers who responded yesterday to my plea to help raise money to register young and BIPOC voters in North Carolina. There was a $15,000 match and the readers of this newsletter exceeded the match!! Thank you for your generosity. You are truly making a difference in a state that will make a difference!

If you are interested in seeing a video by my dear friend and former Governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, check out the link here, Register here.  (You can watch the video before donating to learn about the effort.)

To every reader of the newsletter, thank you for being a blessing in our lives and for all that you are doing to preserve democracy.

Talk to you on Monday!