Sunday, February 26: Mississippi Burning
Mississippi politicians specialize in hustling backwards
Mississippi’s Republican-controlled state legislature recently passed a bill that would expand areas of Jackson patrolled by a state-run “Capitol Police force” and create a new court system with appointed rather than elected judges. Both of these initiatives would give white state government officials more power over Jackson, which has the highest percentage of Black residents of any major U.S. city.
Is it a good idea? No. Is it a bad idea? Yes. Will that slow down the determined racists running the state of Mississippi? Absolutely not.
The sponsor of the expanded police and court bill is republican state representative Trey Lamar, but don’t let the name fool you, that’s a white man. Lamar’s proposals for state control have angered many residents of Jackson who don’t want their voices diminished in local government. These are simply the latest examples of the long-running tensions between the republican-run state government and its democrat-run capital city. Black lawmakers in the state say creating courts with appointed judges would take away voting rights in a state where older generations of Black people still vividly remember the struggle for equal access to the ballot.
Judges for the proposed new courts would not be required to live in Jackson or even the county where it’s located. They would simply be appointed by the chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, a position currently held by a white conservative man from outside Jackson.
Side Items
Italian Migrant Catastrophe: A boat carrying more than 100 migrants and refugees crashed in stormy weather off the Italian coast yesterday, resulting in at least 58 deaths. The boat had set sail from Turkey days ago with migrants from Afghanistan, Iran and several other countries aboard, and it wrecked in stormy weather on the eastern coast of Calabria. One survivor was arrested by Italian authorities on migrant trafficking charges, because that’s what really needs addressing at the moment. I’m curious how many bodies the police had to step over to slap the cuffs on this offender
Racist Dilbert: Publications like The Washington Post, The LA Times and many other newspapers across the country will no longer run the syndicated "Dilbert" comic strip after the cartoonist Scott Adams recommended that white people "get the hell away from Black people." Adams went on his little racist rant during an online video program last week, during which he also labeled Black people as a "hate group." Somebody really should’ve informed this clown that his cartoons weren’t funny back in 2002
Liverpool Played A Soccer Game: Yesterday Liverpool’s struggles continued as they traveled to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace. In years past, this fixture has been an easy one to pick up wins, but this season has been eye-opening for Liverpool fans as we acknowledge that our team is actually quite bad. The game ended 0-0 with no discernible highlights to speak of, which is really the worst kind of punishment a team can inflict on its supporters. (Deep sigh) We go again on Wednesday