OPINION: Mississippi is Ripe to become a Blue State: Send Thompson and Colom to Washington

By Ivory Phillips

JA Contributing Editor

During the first week of November 2019 an article by the writer entitled, “Why Mississippi is the Reddest State in the Union” appeared in the Jackson Advocate. Its conclusion was that Mississippi was the reddest state because it was America’s Blackest state, and further that white Mississippians have supported and adopted the most racially oppressive laws in the country out of fear of being overwhelmed by such a large Black population.

The writer concluded these conditions would remain the same as long as the two factions remained as they were and long had been. On the other hand, the writer concluded in that article that “if and when enough Black people and redeemed or enlightened white people understand and are fed-up enough, we will see it changed. This Blackest state can become the bluest state, and for all the right reasons, that is, reflecting what democracy and human rights are all about.”

This week we return to the general matter of Mississippi being a red state. We return to it because while the state’s white leaders and the policies they support have not changed, there are reasons to think things may be changing this political season. 

Among those reasons are: (1) many people – Black, white, Hispanic, Arabic, Asian, and otherwise – can see the immediate negative impact of the actions and policies of the Trump administration on their future well-being and their everyday lives; (2) many of those same people now have a clearer understanding of what the administration means by, “make America great again”; (3) many have come to see how Mississippi Republicans’ policy positions line-up not only with those advocated by the Trump administration, but they also grow out of those of the antebellum and Jim Crow South; and (4) many have come to view morality through broader lenses than many of the faulty, narrowly interpreted religious lenses that deliberately obscure and denigrate non-white ethnic groups.

In addition to those understandings, there exists a small but growing number of white liberals and progressives who continue to speak out publicly. There is also the fact many people know the state’s Republican majority is determined to re-district the state for its congressional, judicial, and legislative seats, which will lower the number of Black people who will be involved in state and federal government. (Such re-districting can result in the biggest set-back since Reconstruction and will last into the foreseeable future.)

Finally, it is a reality that the number of college students in Mississippi has increased in the state and, like high schoolers, those students can vote in state elections. Not only have their numbers increased, they are also more politically active than any time since the days of the Black Power Movement. Furthermore, many of them can and have clearly read history, which led them to their activism.

In this evolving environment, many democratic and humanitarian-minded people realize, without a political change, enlightened and competent Black people such as Bennie Thompson and Scott Colom could be by-passed in favor of people supporting policies helping to perpetuate Mississippi’s well-earned racist reputation and its oppressive policies. They realize the possible loss of tremendous talent and intellect merely because of the sin of racism and the advocacy of White Supremacy. 

Since progressive, open-minded people of all ages and races can see this and can act to make the changes, we may indeed see the state turn blue. It is certainly ripe for that change. Whether or not that happens will boil down to the thoroughness and sincerity of Black organizing, especially by current Black office-holders in areas where they have the greatest influence and the vigor of the subsequent “get out the vote” campaigns. Together those efforts can spell Mississippi becoming blue, as long it should have been. 

This time around, the real step in turning Mississippi blue means returning Bennie Thompson to the U.S. House of Representatives to continue the significant work he is doing, especially, the investigations and financial allocations. It also means sending Scott Colom to the U.S. Senate as a guardian of who gets approved for the federal courts and federal agencies, among other things. Finally, it also means helping to retain the state’s current majority Black districts in the state legislature as majority Black districts. 

After all, we need a blue Mississippi to help it pull up from all its negative statistics. America needs more help in order to keep the blue dream alive that free people must remain free in order to develop themselves most fully and to serve as a beacon for others who deserve and strive to be free.