So in my other voting post I discussed that only one person that I voted for won. But there is a run-off scheduled a week from tomorrow between Democrat Mike Espy and Republican (*cough*thedevil*cough*) Cindy Hyde-Smith to fill the senate seat left by ailing senator Thad Cochran. This run-off election has made the national and international news, which I'm slightly baffled about. I generally wonder what international news sites deem worthy enough from Mississippi. Then it makes me wonder why our news doesn't report enough on little things happening internationally because perhaps I'd want to know about them (not that I can't just go to BBC or something, but still). Anyways, it's not the run-off itself, as it is something far more unsavoury than voting. So Hyde-Smith may be the first female senator to represent Mississippi, but she's just evil. As I said in my previous post, it's not because she's a Republican. There are republicans from this state that I do not care for, but none of them are eeeeevil (except perhaps our Governor). These were my views even before she made two terrible comments after the initial mid-term elections back on the 6th.
These comments are possibly the reason that this story has made the national news and certainly why this story has made the international news. First off she commented that she'd go to a public hanging in reference to some Tupelo cattle rancher because she's over the moon about him? "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row." were her exact words, because ya know when you like someone you throw a public death reference in there for fun, right? So, first off people are up in arms because Mississippi has the highest number of public hangings of black people in the history of any other state; 581 between the years 1882 and 1968. One side is saying that it's racially motivated while the other side (and you can guess which one) is saying that it's absolutely not and that she made a mistake. Well, a friend of mine put it this way. If someone in Germany (or Austria) said "If he invited me to a demonstration of a gas chamber, I'd be on the front row." and no one would think that it's anything other than a reference to the gassing of all of those Jewish and Romani (etc.) people back in WWII. Why? Because that's the fuck where it happened, that's why! And personally the fact that she is from Mississippi and from Brookhaven to boot, I couldn't see anything but an underlying river of racism there from her. Besides the fact that she married into the family who murdered Lamar Smith back in 1955 for just trying to help his people vote, nor the fact that Brookhaven is so against giving up the state flag (with an emblem reminiscent of the Confederacy) that it's put up those flags all along the main strip through town. However, even if it's not about racism at all (which I doubt) who the fuck wants to watch someone die? Period. Not even publicly, but at all? This isn't the seventeenth century anymore. No one today wants to watch someone die except people who are serial killers or sadists and the like, right? Someone wanted to chime in with that it's just one of those cute southern sayings that you'll hear, (just think Blanche Devereaux from The Golden Girls) No, it is not. No one uses the public hanging theme as a saying (in any context). Not at all. Perhaps they do in Brookhaven? (I'm guessing, because I don't know) But elsewhere in the state, the statement has left a bad taste in peoples mouths (no matter which side, politically, that they are on), because it is most certainly not a saying of ours in this state. Even most of the people defending her by saying she made a mistake, you can hear the uncertainty in their voices and see the panic behind their eyes. The statement was not of the usual colloquial statement and wasn't classy in the least, even if they aren't ready to renounce their Republican ways. They still found it appalling because murder is not fun. So, making a statement about murder is fun (because come on 9/10 (possibly even 10/10 - I'm leaning towards all of them being murder, but as a science person, I give a little wiggle room because I don't know, I wasn't there. I can't just say all and be done with it.) of those instances were murder, plain and simple - not justice, but cold blooded murder), essentially, in a state where this type of murder was carried out almost 600 times for black people. To top it all off. She won't apologize for the statement because there was nothing unseemly about it, to her. Here, you can read and watch about it here and oh look it's Mr. and Mrs. Evil (The Governor, who appointed her and Hyde-Smith herself). Then she goes on to make a statement about voter suppression. She is referencing Democrats (but then aren't most all black people democrats?). "And then they remind me, that there's a lot of liberal folks in those other schools who that maybe we don't want to vote. Maybe we want to make it just a little more difficult. So I think that's a great idea." First of all, even if it's not racist (even though as I said, a lot of black people (& other minorities) vote Democrat), you can't suppress votes from anyone! That's a dictator state, y'all! Sure in a perfect world, which ever political side you're on, everyone would just be that and agree, but this isn't a perfect world and you can't force people to vote the way you want them to, nor can you legally make it difficult to them to vote in a way that opposes you. I know it's been done, as many minorities (of course black people included as that's the biggest numbers here in the state or in the south) have faced voter suppression. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying that there is a long history of it. Once black people were allowed to vote, that is the only reason the south (Mississippi included) had black senators. Then the white people didn't like that and trying to stop them from voting in which way, until they settled on Jim Crow laws in the late 1800s, so that now it was illegally legal for white people to suppress black votes and no one cared. It wasn't right then and it wouldn't be right in the future and to "joke" about it not funny. It's like the person saying something about a time period being romantic, but neglecting to factor in the realities of that era. I suppose it is nice if it's just you and your same people being neighbourly and growing roses in the front yard and walking down the sidewalk and shopping in your little downtown area. Factor in any colour and it would be nice for that person who is Latin, African, Asian, Muslim or Indigenous American. Just a community of you. I personally like having all sorts of people (and personally don't want to be stuck with a bunch of white people only), but I understand that not all people feel this way, because colonization tends to make one want to make a community of themselves (without whites) and I wouldn't fault them. But, basically just imagine your people living whatever nice life you want. (It doesn't have to be 1950s Main Street, but what you want - and certainly not what white people deemed was "appropriate" for you, because that's not the same thing, it's a whole different kettle of fish, and not what this post is about). OK, so to me that is a "romantic" view of the 1950s for white people. It does seem nice I suppose, but then they never want to remember anything bad. Just like the person that doesn't want to realize that people in the seventeenth century didn't bathe (and smelled horribly), relieved themselves in the streets, were covered in rotting diseases like syphilis or the pox, that women and babies died in childbirth a lot, that human waste was thrown onto the streets and you had to walk through it, that people dyed of typhoid which is human waste mixing with the water you'd drink, etc. They like to conveniently forget all of that and just focus on the clothing, furniture, building styles, candle light of the era. Also forgetting that all those candles made rooms insufferably hot or that hot wax could fall on your or set your wig afire or that those pretty buildings had rats and bed bugs and the like, or that those clothes smelled horribly and depending on the time period could be deadly to you, etc. So, too, are these white people in remembering the "fond" 1950s of their youth (because most of these people were children or teenagers) forgetting that black people, and other minorities, were marginalized, beaten, murdered, starved, kept from education or other public things like libraries and could only shop on certain days when white people weren't shopping, couldn't drink from the same water fountain, couldn't use the same toilets; people being treated as less than human simply because of the colour of their skin. To forget either realities from either time period is just ridiculous and in the case of the 1950s a huge oversight to how people had to live (and in some cases still face one or more of these issues). It's like a slap in the face to an entire people. You shouldn't romanticize the 1950s. Not that one can't say, "I liked growing up in the 1950s (because mommy didn't drink or daddy didn't beat me or whatever), however, it doesn't mean it was nice for everyone in the time." It doesn't magically wash away all of your lovely memories of feeding a stray dog or playing jax with your friends or Christmases with your family to also include that life was shit for a lot of people during those years. It doesn't negate your childhood to expand your knowledge or to acknowledge, but to leave it out completely does negate everything that an entire race of people went through. You have to see the good with the bad. You can't just nix one for a better image in your mind or through your story weaving. Voter suppression is not a thing to "joke" about (because I'm not convinced that it either was merely a joke). Whether it's one political party, everyone votes one way dictatorship or the hardships that minorities had to go through just to freely be able to vote. I might be stretching it by saying the lady just can't stop talking about the fun of murder, but honestly just with black people, voting was nothing but laid with murder. Freedom Summer was all about people coming down to help black people being able to vote without intimidation. Do you know what happened? Four people were murdered (Civil Rights leader Louis Allen in January and those three volunteers Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman in June), five fire-bombings of Jewish synagogues and Black churches, nine fire-bombings of Black churches and homes, thirty one other shootings and acts of violence. That's just one year. That's a lot of violence, even if the number of deaths are low. But four people were murdered just trying to help people vote in this year alone. In a state like Mississippi, voter suppression isn't merely a what-if thing with nothing terrifyingly horrid behind it. No, it's fraught with nothing but murder and violence and to incite either a hanging or voter suppression, both with such crooked and horrendous pasts, shouldn't be taken lightly at all. She's not apologizing and I really do think that says something about her. Even the most politically groomed politician knows when to kowtow and backpedal to garner the most support and not end up looking like an asshole. They may have believed whatever terrible remark they uttered, but they know well enough that to still have standing, they need to placate the masses. Which sometimes works because if people want to look the other way, then they now have that avenue and for others well, perhaps they really didn't mean it. With Hyde-Smith, all I can think is that she really does detest black people and thinks murder is fun. Why the hell would I want that woman running the state? Not that my view matters much as I'm just one person (even though there are a lot of people who think like me in this state). I get out and vote and my people never win because for some reason people keep voting in hatred and fear mongering because they think they'll get money for being part of the Republican party. Unless you are one of the few wealthy Republicans in the state, you'll still be the poor white trash that you are before you vote. They're not going to give you anything because you don't already have money. But try convincing them of that, and sadly that includes most of my family. All I can say is I'm going back out on the 27th, and again voting for Espy and I hope to the Universe and back that he wins.
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AuthorA girl from South Mississippi who finds herself in exploration. Archives
November 2019
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