A few days ago, the world learned that the state of Mississippi had gone along until this year without officially, finally ratifying the 13th Amendment. That's the one that banned slavery. If it weren't embarrassing enough that my home state's legislature failed to vote for ratification until 1995, the Mississippi Secretary of State at the time failed to send in the paperwork required to make their decision official.
I don't know how Secretary of State Dick Molpus, a Democrat, managed to botch that, by what means or combination of means. (Update from the comments: or -- wow -- didn't botch it.) But I have seen from back home signals that Molpus is not the cartoon character he's supposed to play on TV. Sarah Morice Brubaker of Religion Dispatches, for example, writes that we should all hope to be more like Molpus, not because of what he did wrong, but because of so much he has done right:
Molpus just keeps saying gutsy things -- like when he told a roomful of people, one of whom was Governor Haley Barbour:
"Few politicians today use outright race baiting, but we see have some that use the symbols and utter the phrases and everyone knows what the code is."
Oh, and he's also called attention to how voter ID laws endanger the voting rights of poor and elderly people, and was named a Champion of Justice by the Mississippi Center for Justice.
If you haven't seen Molpus' remarks on the murder of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Mississippi, check them out. He challenges white people to take responsibility for their racism and get over it.
Saying that kind of thing in Mississippi cost him, in political terms. The price was worth it, for all of us trying to do better.
When you are a blue dot in a red state, it does seem to me that outsiders assume a lot about you. I don't blame them, really. I just wish we could look a little deeper. (H/t Donna Ladd)
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Working for Walmart isn't a form of slavery?
It is just semantics.
being an employee - as opposed to being and owner - is a "form" of slavery; subject to, dependent upon, beholden to, less than, subserviant, subordinate. It is all a matter of degrees. But ownership vs employee is not degreed- that is black and white, either or, one or the other. It is our owner vs employee relationship that is the biggest problem we face. 100% biggest problem. every problem we have is a derivative of this owner-employee relationship gone bad.
This issue goes way way back. The clearest non-slave labeled example is the landlord-tenant situation in england. Their solution was house of lords and house of commons. But today the situation has gone from bad to worse - much worse.
Owners want more ownership. Pimped out repubers are willing to take money from the greeders to accumulate more ownership. The test and measure of this evil is this ...
When a man simply wants to be his own man, independent of others, to do for himself and his family, to get or grow his own food, to create his "own" habitat, and cannot reasonably and willfully and easily do so, there is a problem.
And the problem is that the common man has been painted into a corner and forced to subscribe to an existing and controlled regimen which he may object to and not be able to speak his mind or protest without harm.
There are lots of choices of earning a living and with satisfaction and acceptance and comfort which suffices for the suffering of dependence - but those rewards, benefits, choices etc are shrinking and will continue to shrink as the owners and their pimped outs gather more to paint the corner smaller and extract more and more until the misery they cause erupts.
greed has no boundaries. THe majority of people give up their real freedon and independence for a modest and humble living and the greedsters dont see what it is that the common person has given up and asks for in return. The greeders seek to take advantage of because they can. The greeders seek to exploit because they can. And because they can they believe it is OK, or right to do so and continue to do so.
All greeders in all countries always gather their power and money to pay armed forces to protect them to rule over others and force their way. They would have slaves to pay nothing to and beat into submission if they could get away with it. Their souls are infected with a virus that eats up their connection with others. And the people in positions of elected power develop ambitions to participate in this havoc and to enrich themselves and to maintain a separation from others - to the point that protestors are to them, disruptive and undeserving.
And the greeders and their pimped outs will tell you that those who seek to take back what they have been deprived of for life support and robbed of their future and ownership they are not born into or prohibited from earning, are violent.
I am from Utah, Just about everything you hear about Utah is true. Salt Lake City is more Liberal than the rest of the State, but the government is basically a one party system. This creates numerous opportunities for corruption, it's O.K. though, the ol' boy network will quickly sweep it under the rug. There is nothing good about it. Because of the Religious influence, all a politician has to do is pledge allegiance to the Church, be a card carrying member of the Republican party, and make it through the primary.
When Obama won re-election, native Utahans stopped putting up Christmas lights. They took it hard. I loved going out the next day and seeing the faces, swallow, with expressions of doom.
The area I live in is heavily Republican... and it was fun that whole month after the election to see the racist blowhards who had sworn that Romney was a 'shoe-in' and how he was going to take it in a landslide, when I said: "Hey, how'd that Romney thing work out for ya?? I keep telling you Fox is spelled F-A-U-X." ((I got all kinds of crap when I'd interject it would be a landslide, just not a Romney landslide. So reminding them who was correct and why, MIGHT help them at some point in their lives)).
KT. Around here the locals retreat from the reality of losing the election found a no voter ID fantasy land where thousands of liberals shuttled from one poling place to another in buses and used voter list info to impersonate voters that had been infected with a 24 hour flu by Acorn operatives. They also were such professional con artists that they were able to fake the sign in signatures perfectly. I have asked them if that was true why did ANY Republican win a house election in states that did not require ID? Still waiting for an answer.
I have been through the state of Mississippi. Obviously i do not live there. i would not want to live there. Mississippi is like the state that does not exist. You dont hear of it exception by exception - things like Mississippi Burning. They dont have a major sports team. they had cotton fields and might still have. It has a capital presumeably. It is sandwiched between Louisianna & Georgia. And it gets dark at night there.
I think of Mississippi as a foreign country - not exactly a part of the u.s. - no offense. Probably a very nice place. And probably the original twilight zone.
If you are going to insult someone else's state, you should learn your geography. Mississippi is located between Arkansas and Louisiana to the west and Alabama to the east. Georgia is one state and one time zone away.
PS: Dick Molpus is a courageous, progressive, educated man. He is a personal friend and a great Mississippian. I don't know what happened with the ratification paperwork, but I can assure anyone willing to listen that Dick doesn't have a racist bone in his body.
Tom Ramsey
though I dont' agree with original poster and do with you,
to say Misssissippi is between Georgia and Louisianna isn't wrong. IT is SOMEWHERE between them. As is Alabama.
he doesn't say it's the only state between them.
Heck, Massachusetts is between New Jersey and Maine, after all!
Mississippi does have a capital it's Jackson. The last time I was there they rolled up the sidewalks at 6PM. Now Oxford where Old Miss is located is pretty cool, but then it's a college town and most college towns are cool. Also Oxford has a great independent bookstore on the square.
Actually, Laurali, he said "sandwiched between Lousiana and Georgia". I take that to mean he believed Miss was next to those two, unless Alabama is lettuce? In any event, while the state enjoys a reputation of being last in everything, and not a surprise, it is attitude and culture that perpetuates this cycle. I too live in a state that ranks near the bottom in every category, poverty, education, income, employment, access to healthcare for the poor, etc. I am a blue dot, but there are many blue dots around and in fact my county, Charleston voted for Obama. The thing that frustrates me isn't that we are a red state, but the majority of people so unwilling to change and make the state a better place, whether blue or red people, and it seems to be based upon some proud "culture" that we fired the first bullet or seceded from the union first or believe in "State's rights"--yes, we believe it is our "State's rights" that we should be last or almost last in every category. I know many reds (funny that color is associated with republicans) that also want to see change, improvement in education, the economy more jobs etc. here in SC. Unfortunately we seem to elect people that stoke the fire of anti-washington and anti-change, and governors that do silly things like refuse to accept $141 million in federal education funds while laying off education employees, take every measure possible to not implement Obamacare, introduce legislation and make speeches stating our law enforcement will not comply with any gun control measures from Washington. My blue friends laugh, my red friends are embarrassed, yet SC's continues to be proud Mississippi and Alabama are also states when it comes to rankings. Third to last is better than last.
Alabama is soooooo the lettuce!
Alabama as lettuce sounds about right...lol. Maybe the cheese though? ;)
Good for Dick Molpus. I am sure he is a fine man and has been a worthy public servant and everyone makes mistakes....we loose our car keys, send the wrong letter in the wrong envelope, all kinds of stuff...but you have to admit...forgetting to file the paperwork for an amendment to the Constitution to the United States saying that your State is officialy in favor of ending slavery....yeah that's kind of a doozy
"A few days ago, the world learned that the state of Mississippi had gone along until this year without officially, finally ratifying the 13th Amendment. That's the one that banned slavery. If it weren't embarrassing enough that my home state's legislature failed to vote for ratification until 1995, the Mississippi Secretary of State at the time failed to send in the paperwork required to make their decision official."
The first paragraph states that the Secretary of State in Mississippi failed to send in the paper work. Where are you getting a chance to slam Mr. Morris in that?
Ok first it's Mr Molpus not "Morris" who was the secretary of state at the time...and I wasn't "slamming" anyone. I have never said nor have I ever believed that he acted out of malice or for any less than honorable reason.
Like I said we all make mistakes...and sometimes they are whoppers that's all, and in this case I think that if nothing else it is genuinely funny because in all honesty no one was hurt and no permanent harm was done because a bureaucratic "T" wasn't crossed
Thank you for an informative post.
My prejudices against Mississippi can always use a disabusing.
I'm kind of torn on the whole Blue Dot thing. Admittedly, my personal experience doesn't help me much; my parents are what you might call "red dots" in Maryland, and I moved to (northern) Virginia not so much because of fleeing from anyone or anything; rather, because I wanted to get married to my wonderful Virginian then-fiancee (now wife).
I've met people who have fled places like Indiana and Arkansas and sought out the blue coasts and never looked back. And I know them and know they're wonderful people, whom I don't blame one bit given their personal stories. On the other hand, I hear about the blue dots, striving for change in their home state no matter how red and intolerant the landscape. I guess it's one's personal call to make; I respect those who stay and try to effect change, but I can't exactly say the ones who've left are cowards, either.
Hopefully the blue dots out there aren't offended when I say I never want to move to a place like Mississippi. But solidarity's important, and we all need to keep informed and show support for those fighting for change there. For whatever it may be worth, I'm rooting for ya.
Many, many people have to leave their red state home to find work--in a blue state. We did & it was wonderful! Yes, the taxes were high, but the schools were great, the roads good & very little crime. We recently moved back home & it is proving to be a real adjustment. The n-word is back in vogue. The bigots seem to think everyone is just like them. I let them know differently. I tell businesses I frequent to turn Faux News off their flat screen TVs. They always do. I may be a blue dot in a red state, but I will not be a silent one!!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that throughout the course of the growth of the Constitution, numerous amendments have been ratified without every State in the Union doing so. It's simply nothing more than a numbers game. Once any amendment passes the threshold of 3/4 of the States ratifying that amendment, it automatically becomes the law of the land.
You could liken it to the great American pastime of baseball, where the custom is the home team doesn't bat in the bottom of the 9th inning if they have a lead, as any more runs would be superfluous.
In 2004 I moved to MS. with my partner. I am gay and this is his home state. I lived in Jackson for 6 months. I am originally from PA and moved back home to normal people. I found the people in Ms. to be rude, obnoxious and completely unfriendly. Now most of the people I knew had no idea about my sexual orientation. So we can rule that reasoning out. I am however very liberal. I dislike the state of Mississippi SOOOOO much that on an across the country trip I planned it so that not even one tire would touch the ground in the backwards hate filled state. Don't get me wrong I know some wonderful people in the state. I just don't know why anyone would choose to live there.
Statistically in almost every public health and in many quality of life measures Mississippi is at the botton of the fifty states or one of the lowest few. Health wise its statistics are more in line with some developing nations not the US as a whole.
I'd go there if i were indepedantly wealthy and if I could take my own doctors in case I needed medical care. I am sure good care is to be had in MS but I wouldn't know for sure what I was getting.
Your experience sounds distasteful. I thought southerners are supposed to be hospitable. Guess not.
No need to bring your own doctors. Mississippi has industry-leading health care professionals. University Medical Center was the location of the first heart-lung transplant. We're just fat and poor. That's why we rank so low in health stats. I'm a 3rd generation Mississippian and feel that I share some duty to make my state a better one. I've experienced love, kindness, compassion, anger, resentment and downright nastiness in every state I've visited or lived. People who make sweeping generalizations about any state are usually ignorant of the facts and haven't made the effort to live through the stereotypes. Mississippi and Massachusetts both had ugly moments in civil rights history. People can be rude an racist just as easily in Seattle as they can in Jackson. How about this for an idea...do your best wherever you are to be the best person you can be and see if it can rub off on others. Come see us in Mississippi and visit the International Museum of Muslim Culture, or the International Ballet Competition in 2014. Perhaps you could listen to some blues in Clarksdale or some Jazz in Jackson. You might be pleasantly surprised. I promise not to yell at you, regardless of how terrible your Yankee manners might be. ;)
Sorry pal , but it is not ALL THE SAME , I here many people complain about Miss , I have really never heard anyone complain about Seattle ,so there is a difference out there , I have traveled some and when I tell people I am from Iowa , surprisingly , even for me ,many have good things to say about us for some strange reason
I would not begrudge any state , but you can not just dismiss what people are saying either , I never heard of anyone running down any states till I got on the Internet , and the ones who are always doing it are southern conservatives , obsessing about northern and liberals states , that says a lot to me about those people , from those states
I certainly would never lump the liberals of Miss , or any other red state , with ALL the conservatives there , I have many friends in southern states , but lets face it , there are expectations when you go to old south states
My state, West Virginia, has voted red the last few elections. The fact is though that the democrats outnumber the republicans two to one! We used to be died in the wool democratic supporters and our Governor, house and senate still are democratic. The global warming issue, where the president is asking for cleaner burning coal, has the majority of West Virginians thinking he wants to do away with coal. Not So! Laws were passed 14 years ago that required the coal companies to develop cleaner burning coal and now that their time is up, they want to push back.
Hey, no fair calling attention to good people in Mississippi! Being better than Mississippi is about the only thing my home state, Tennessee, has going for it!
parts on TN are beautiful...I drove through it once.
Yes, in actuality there are a lot of good things going for TN (and the eastern part of the state is gorgeous). "Well, at least we're not Mississippi," was just always the joke when I was growing up.
please read this, in which the assistant SoS to Dick Molpus explains that she did in fact send in the paperwork. I do hope Jon Stewart invites them both on the show. The good folk who remain here doing good work (and Dick Molpus continues to do good work) deserve the exposure. http://blogs.clarionledger.com/jmitchell/2013/02/22/note-to-jon-stewart-why-not-invite-dick-molpus-and-constance-slaughter-harvey-to-appear-on-your-show/
@EMac, thanks for the link. I hadn't seen that.
Fantastic story!
Set the record straight!
I'd like to see-both as an electoral strategy AND a way to "balance out" the blue v. red-wealthy Blue State Dems (like 3rd generation trust fund types who have too much money and nothing to really do with it or their time and are bored) MOVE DOWN TO THE RED STATE OF YOUR CHOICE! For example, a million dollars in NYC MIGHT buy you an apartment...in the Delta area of Arkansas and Mississippi? HALF that would buy you a RANCH. Not a ranch style home, mind you, a RANCH. The OTHER HALF of that same million dollars could go a LONG way towards influencing local, county, and state (and by extension) federal elections. Back before the internet, fedex, and amazon, it made sense to locate in the Megalopolii of the East and West Coasts. Now, not so much. We're a 2 hour flight to either coast. We're affordable. We NEED the investment (not just the $$$, but the TIME, the EFFORT, the INTEREST) in our cultural infrastructure. A "reverse migration" if you will of the African Americans that streamed North for the jobs of Henry Ford. We want yall to come back home, along with your Jewish brethren, your married, lesbian neighbors and their adopted gay Chinese baby. In other words, if you're a wealthy Blue Stater and you want a political bang for your buck, stop donating it and MOVE IT. INVADE the Red State and district of your choice! Michele Bachmann in MN?? I KNOW there's some Vermonters who'd love to be part of making her move on. That kinda thing...
it's not as if the failure to file paperwork that was already 100+ years late made a difference, the slaves were freed were they not? like a long time ago?
Honestly? One of the most distressing parts of being a blue dot in a red state (in this case, the inFamous Potato State) is having to own the skeevy press reports about misbehaving idjits that embarrass all of us. And then having the reports attract more skeevy idjits to move to the state, saturating the redness.
Then again, Skeeviness Happens. Better it get covered than shot, shoveled, and shut up, as what has happened with the endangered species list and the wolves.
for all of us poor blue dots I have requested several times that someone compile a map of each state by vote split. divide each state map by blue and red. show us we are not alone. show us how much we need to do to tilt the state in our favor. there are many sane decent limpuglicants afraid to change parties, the societal pressure is huge. between the churches, the bosses, even the public schools, the last thing we blues need is to stand out or our children pay the price.
I don't live in the USA, have many years ago in Miami for 25Month and loved it but did not want Children to be raised in the USA. I have been on Holiday twice, had a great time everytime met only nice People, but when you read some of the comments made against your President I feel sick. How racist, I guess I am lucky to be white. I know now for sure that I would not have wanted to raise my Children in the USA. It may be different for the Billionaers, but even than, so very sad
I've lost nothing in Mississippi and will never go there- glad there are blue spots there though.
My formative years were during the 60's and 70's, leaving me awed by the March on Washington, and loving Archie Bunker. I fear and have hidden resentment of MS not because of 1st-hand experience, but because my knowledge of MS is limited to High School history classes and the infrequent news sound byte (Gov Haley Barbour). I've become what I detest...complacent in my irrational fear. Not for nothing, it helps me to be just a little less judgemental of others of similar inclination. I've been fortunate in that in a few such kindred relationships, we were able to look past our own ignorance and see the good in each other. Archie Bunker taught me that.
As a reporter then who covered Dick Molpus, I can tell you this is a man who is without a doubt one of the unsung heroes of Mississippi. He, and now Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus (and former Mississippi governor) came to politics on the coattails of Gov. William Winter, the first governor in the country to fight for, and get, education reform. In addition to words, Molpus deeds are a testament to his beliefs and character. He single handedly fought for and secured changes in how the state's school districts leased 16th Secion land. This is land set aside by the state for schools. Up to the time Mr. Molpus got to office, school districts would lease that land to hunters, farmers, whomever, for ridiculously low sums, far, far below market value. It was a fight, but Mr. Molpus waged that war so that school districts could get fair market value for their school districts. In a state like Mississippi, that's meant millions of extra dollars to needy school districts. He is a champion for equal rights, racial equality and justice. As for this registration issue, yes, in the end, the buck stops with him. But if you get the chance to visit a secretary of state's office, you will see that i's more than one guy and maybe a secretary or two. It's a huge operation charged with such tasks as certifying corporations and securing business filings. Go one day and get an education. When the day is done, Mr. Molpus, along with Mr. Winter and Mr. Mabus will be counted among those who actually did something for those they served. Not many career politicians will be able to even make that claim.
@Sylvain, thanks for the note. I published your comment here, too, in another post.
No sense in preaching to the converted.
...oh yes, the secretary of state's office IS ultimately responsible for voting. Didn't want to leave that out...
Good story, Laura. We should not forget that some of our greatest writers came from Mississippi: Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Eudora Welty, Willie Morris, on and on.
www.olemiss.edu/mwp for starters.
Don't forget, there are red dots in blue states that feel every bit as down trodden as the blue dots in red states. They don't like the liberal agendas of socialism. They are very much a more independent lot that insists on making it on their own until they absolutely HAVE to rely on government for assistance. And I mean HAVE to. They consider it a disgrace to rely on the government and do everything in their power to be self reliant. Even the democrats of the Kennedy era were that way, but no more. That democratic party is gone. It has turned into "What can the government do for me, not what can I do for myself" The generation growing up with this mindset will insure that our country fails.
@Jes33 Are you by chance one of those red dots? I've been looking for red dots in blue states, too. I especially if any of them would prefer to move to a red state -- or have moved to one -- the way blue dots talk about wanting to move to blue states.
It took fat racists southern democrats to oppose Lincoln. It took a racist democrat president, Jimmy Carter, to pardon Jefferson Davis (Confederate President) posthumously, restoring him as a citizen of the US. Only Davis NEVER swore to uphold the 13th Amendment or any part of the U.S. Constitution. He was an unrepentant racist like..... Democrat Jimmy Carter.
You you love the 13th amendment like I do, thank a republican for bleeding to pass and defend it.
God created all men and women equal. Republicans fought Democrats in the 1800s and 1960s to defend it.
Look it up.
Oh by the way..it took two Kennedy brothers (Jack and Robert) to illegally wiretap Dr. Martin Luther King, violating his constitutional rights. They did this as President and Attorney General, so they could have leverage against Dr. King. All because Dr. King wanted us to see the content of our characters, not the color of our skin. Dr. King was a threat so the Democrat President and Attorney General did this, rather than protect Dr. King.
Racism is an abomination. Democrats have a horrible history of promoting racism.
During the Civil War, Blacks in southern democrat states were denied their rights to guns to defend themselves, so they can be kept in their place.
Look this all up.
As a Nor-Easter, one of the things I had to learn to deep six quickly was the broad stroke. Some of the smartest people I know just happen to be from the deep south (go figure) while some of the dumbest are from the (so called) sophisticated north. Today's motto boys and girls: Take people as they come.