The Time For Change Is Now in Mississippi

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ans, and America was built on the backs of people of color. These are the true heroes of America. Where are their statues?</p><p id="0643">The day of racial reckoning is here, Greenwood, Mississippi, after years of debate, has given way to a new Emmett Till statue to be erected. Emmett Till, a young Black 14-year old was brutally beaten and shot by a mob of white men in 1955, 10 miles from Greenwood. Emmett Till’s statue is one of a few African American statues in Mississippi, compared to the dozens of Confederate monuments mounted around courthouses landscape, town squares, and other prominent locations.</p><p id="2056">Mississippi has joined many other cities across all states, voting to remove Confederate monuments, while it is an expensive undertaking but for racial reckoning, a price tag cannot supersede. This new awakening was triggered by the death of George Floyd. The country has had an awakening and much protest started and has continued. Dozens of Confederate statues have been dismounted and/or found another home in a museum of sorts. Greenwood, like some other cities, has seen change come at a slow pace but determination is the key to keep things moving regardless.</p><p id="a696">The Leflore County Board of Supervisors voted in June 2020 to remove the Confederate statue that has been there since 1913 mounted by the Varina Jefferson Davis Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy. The board voted 4 -5 for the installation of a new statue and the removal of the old Confederate statue, followed by years-long debate about the new home of the Confederate statue. Also, bureaucracy has interfered in moving forward with a concrete plan for removal.</p><p id="0f32">Recently Senator David Jordan of Greenwood, a Democrat, reignited the issue of installing a Till statue in Greenwood’s home of 13, 500 residents. Senator Jordan is the only local survivor who attended the trial of Emmett Till’s killers that is yet under investigation.</p><p id="8c68">Senator Jordan championed the erecting of a Till statue in front of the courthouse as poetic justice for a city where dogs attacked Black residents who tried to register to vote, and a city where racist Citizens Councils maintained regional headquarters.</p><p id="9bbe">Yet, there was some opposition stating that replacing one statue with another is not representative of all thee people. One statue celebrated evilness and hatred toward people of color but the replacement statue would represent reconciliation and unity.</p><p id="53f8">After much pros and cons from many sides, last month, the council voted unanimously to erect the Till statue but not at the courthouse, but in a nearby park, a half-mile away.</p><p id="ce7e">In the face of this vote, residents of both sides were yet wrangling with progress reg

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arding these statutes. Some wanted both statues, in their perspective places, while others disagreed. Many white residents, see the Confederate statue as an important part of their history and while African Americans see the statues as pure racism and discrimination for centuries.</p><p id="2307">In conclusion, for healing and change, all ethnicity need to agree that the truth should be acknowledged, taught in school, and over time as Dr. King stated, “then perhaps we all can live in harmony”.</p><p id="b423">For additional reads:</p><div id="f30d" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-bust-of-nathan-bedford-forrest-a-confederate-general-and-kkk-leader-gets-moved-to-a-49324f73b7a"> <div> <div> <h2>The Bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and KKK leader, Gets moved to a…</h2> <div><h3>How the Tennessee’s Black legislative caucus fought for years to remove this bust from the state Capitol</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*hjTdQ9kOo6PmKSTV)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="d80c" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/a-hidden-figure-ellen-garrison-clark-an-anti-slavery-activist-daredevil-and-educator-129-years-84d677e24cfa"> <div> <div> <h2>A Hidden Figure, Ellen Garrison Clark, an Anti-Slavery Activist Daredevil and Educator, 129 Years…</h2> <div><h3>A story about the celebration of another hidden figure, an anti-slavery leader and educator who traveled the South…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*IfLbC6I6vx84Z-vv.jpg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="3511" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-red-summer-the-biggest-kept-secret-in-americas-history-75e87546b631"> <div> <div> <h2>The Red Summer, the Biggest Kept Secret in America’s History</h2> <div><h3>How in 1919 there were countless riots across the United States, north and south, where white mobs lynched, burned and…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*O2Sqzx1lR4M5yZtg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

The Time For Change Is Now in Mississippi

How a Republican control state needs to wake up and smell the coffee

Mississippi for more than a century has proudly mounted countless Confederate statues that have always been offensive to the African American community because of all the murders and lynchings that happened under these many Confederate leaders. For far too many years, African Americans ignore chose to ignore these statues because it would have taken an act of Congress to have those Confederate statues removed on yesteryear.

Greenwood, Mississippi, a Black-majority city whose history centered around lots of civil rights protests and clashes, has had to endure the presence of one of the most elaborate Confederate monuments mounted far too long, overlooking the lawn of their courthouse located in the center of Greenwood.

The Statue of Liberty represents what America stands for. It exemplifies that America is a country of migrants and all deserve to live as descent and equal human beings mandated by this country’s Constitution.

As around the country, many protests against such Confederate relics of the past demand reckoning with. Tennessee just recently had to remove A Confederate figure from their courthouse. See the link below.

Protesters demonstrated at the base of this six Confederate figures statue for removal and championed racial injustice continuance. Centered around this Confederate statue, there is much division regarding it’ removal.

This horrific Confederate relic is a constant reminder to the African Americans how whites had suppressed, killed, lynched,and denied them of their rights to live as American citizens according to the Constitution.

America was built on the backs of people of color, why don’t we have statues of people of color instead of the many denials of this historical reality? Also facts, the whites killed a lot of people of color based on their skin color, stole or took America from the Native Americans, and America was built on the backs of people of color. These are the true heroes of America. Where are their statues?

The day of racial reckoning is here, Greenwood, Mississippi, after years of debate, has given way to a new Emmett Till statue to be erected. Emmett Till, a young Black 14-year old was brutally beaten and shot by a mob of white men in 1955, 10 miles from Greenwood. Emmett Till’s statue is one of a few African American statues in Mississippi, compared to the dozens of Confederate monuments mounted around courthouses landscape, town squares, and other prominent locations.

Mississippi has joined many other cities across all states, voting to remove Confederate monuments, while it is an expensive undertaking but for racial reckoning, a price tag cannot supersede. This new awakening was triggered by the death of George Floyd. The country has had an awakening and much protest started and has continued. Dozens of Confederate statues have been dismounted and/or found another home in a museum of sorts. Greenwood, like some other cities, has seen change come at a slow pace but determination is the key to keep things moving regardless.

The Leflore County Board of Supervisors voted in June 2020 to remove the Confederate statue that has been there since 1913 mounted by the Varina Jefferson Davis Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy. The board voted 4 -5 for the installation of a new statue and the removal of the old Confederate statue, followed by years-long debate about the new home of the Confederate statue. Also, bureaucracy has interfered in moving forward with a concrete plan for removal.

Recently Senator David Jordan of Greenwood, a Democrat, reignited the issue of installing a Till statue in Greenwood’s home of 13, 500 residents. Senator Jordan is the only local survivor who attended the trial of Emmett Till’s killers that is yet under investigation.

Senator Jordan championed the erecting of a Till statue in front of the courthouse as poetic justice for a city where dogs attacked Black residents who tried to register to vote, and a city where racist Citizens Councils maintained regional headquarters.

Yet, there was some opposition stating that replacing one statue with another is not representative of all thee people. One statue celebrated evilness and hatred toward people of color but the replacement statue would represent reconciliation and unity.

After much pros and cons from many sides, last month, the council voted unanimously to erect the Till statue but not at the courthouse, but in a nearby park, a half-mile away.

In the face of this vote, residents of both sides were yet wrangling with progress regarding these statutes. Some wanted both statues, in their perspective places, while others disagreed. Many white residents, see the Confederate statue as an important part of their history and while African Americans see the statues as pure racism and discrimination for centuries.

In conclusion, for healing and change, all ethnicity need to agree that the truth should be acknowledged, taught in school, and over time as Dr. King stated, “then perhaps we all can live in harmony”.

For additional reads: