Defend the Indefensible: Mississippi

TGFM.

A rare (itt, anyway) positive take.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/11928516/Mississippi-madness-expat-life-in-Americas-weirdest-state.html

Posted by a fb friend of mine who travels to Pluto and loves it.

this state is fucking terrifying

‘There’s nothing more Delta than a Delta Walmart" x-post

A rare (itt, anyway) positive take.

A commenter accused the author of going to Mississippi to profit, being in white denial, and doing nothing to help in a positive way (implying that his upcoming book on living there would not generate anything positive). The commenter does not list any clinic or non-profit group or public school related organization down there that one could send money too. Perhaps the author is doing that in addition to buying food and such and being part of the local economy,

Perhaps I am feeling guilty too

I didn't read the entire article, but it was starting to make me feel a little nauseous.

"Hey, 'Y'all!' I'm down here in one of those Red States you always hear about, but guess what! Not everyone's hanging men from trees anymore! Come on down and sit on the front porch with some of these characters. Sip on some sweet tea, pat ol' Hugh the Hound Dog on the top of his head, and git set to hear some authentic Delta blues played by the great-grandnephew of Willy Faulkner."

<-- that is basically the entire ethos of the oxford american

seems to have a lot of extrapolation from the rural, delta area of Mississippi which is definitely kind of unique, even within that state

x-post

And that's in part kinda the ethos of any ilxor blues and soul and country fan including me. But we recognize that there's discrimination and awful stuff too, and give money to Doctors without Borders, is that it? Plus we balance our interests in that with uh German electronica and uh UK beer or something... So tell me how the Oxford American should do it more respectfully? Or are you saying in this internet age, that the Oxford American should just cover any music or art made by Southerners no matter the style? I can see that as an option. I mean it kinda bugs me that it currently covers in its music issue just safe indie-rock and Americana acts in addition to old-school blues and country ones, but does not cover rap or middle-aged southern soul. Or do you just dislike perpetuating any alleged clichéd Southern characteristics at the expense of the wide variety of traits that exist there, and think the magazine should just go away?

Above questions pertain to the author of that article as well as Oxford American

oxford american is basically just a literate tourist magazine, selling a particular iteration of the south to a particular demographic. the ads are almost entirely for

1) tourism -- mix of specific tourist destinations (biltmore etc.) and semi-impoverished southern mid-sized cities desperately hoping to drawn in some "cultural heritage tourism"

2) southern universities and colleges offering liberal-arts graduate degrees (esp. MFAs in creative writing, filmmaking, etc.)

3) record labels and book publishers

every now and then they have something that hints at the modern south, but usually they are selling a kind of rusticated fantasy.

what tends to be missing is any meaningful reflection on the politics of the contemporary south except for some token hand-wringing that occupies a few lines in an article about visiting some derelict old whiskey stills.

Pro-state-flag dude sets of explosive at Walmart: http://djournal.com/news/man-explodes-device-at-walmart/

TUPELO – A Tupelo man is behind bars after allegedly setting off an explosive at Walmart early Sunday morning.

Officers were called to the North Gloster Walmart where a man reportedly detonated an explosive device in the entrance of the store. Marshall W. Leonard, 61, of Tupelo, was seen leaving the area and was taken into custody by officers around 2 a.m.

No one was injured in the incident.

Leonard is a strong supporter of the Mississippi flag and railed against anyone who wanted it pulled because it contained the Confederate battle flag. In the past, he spoke out against Walmart when the retail giant decided to stop selling items in its stores that contained the Confederate battle flag.

Last Wednesday, Leonard posted threats on the Daily Journal Facebook page.

“Journal corporate, you are on final warning,” he wrote Oct. 28. “You are part of the problem. As a result of this, y’all are going down, along with Walmart, WTVA, Reeds department store, and all the rest of the anti-American crooks. I’m not kidding. No messing around anymore!”

*sets off explosive

Is there any hope at all that it's spelled "North Gloster" because at some point Mississippians gave up on trying to spell "North Gloucester?"

You like that one, you and any of the Westermass ILXors should come check out this charming burg:

http://i.imgur.com/rWE1xoL.png

Also, sorry about the walmart, wmc.

I can't front on that, we have a Wooster in Ohio, too. Ours has a college, though.

towns were named for Bertie Wooster then. very literary of them.

I'm sure the etymology derives from Gloucester at some point, but the street was named after a guy named Gloster when the town was incorporated. It's the main north-south drag in Tupelo; the east-west artery is the innovatively named Main Street. And there's a railroad crossing right at crosstown where the two intersect, which the city and BNSF have been trying to figure out a solution to for at least 30-40 years. xxps

I'll be interested to see how big an explosion this guy built.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloster_Aircraft_Company

The Gloster Aircraft Company was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1917 to 1963.

Founded as The Gloucestershire Aircraft Company Limited during the First World War, with the aircraft construction activities of H H Martyn & Co Ltd of Cheltenham it produced fighters during the war. It was renamed as foreigners found 'Gloucestershire' difficult to pronounce. It later became part of the Hawker Siddeley group and the Gloster name disappeared in 1963.

Sounds like a likely scenario.

btw shoppers, just 25 more days til Black Friday!

This gets even better after an update.

It was the state flag that led to his arrest. An officer in the area spotted a small silver car with a huge Mississippi flag sticking up through the sun roof run the red light in front of Walmart.

“The officer pulled him over for the traffic violation, but when the calls started coming in, we quickly figured out we needed to hang on to this suspect,” said Aguirre. “We still have some more interviews to do and still need to search his car before we take him in front of a judge Tuesday.”

Officials are still waiting to get details of Leonard’s prior criminal history in Illinois and Wisconsin.

“A white male got out, lit the package and threw it in the vestibule,” said Aguirre. “There was an employee on break, and the suspect told him, ‘You better run.’

“The employee did run and was away from harm when the package went off. It wasn’t a large explosion. It didn’t cause a lot of damage to the store.”

So wait, what'd this guy do? Blow up one of those crane machines?

Because I hate those crane machines. Unlike the South, they rise up again too quickly.

Hoo. Boy.

http://i.imgur.com/iihhVGY.png

Committ Adultry

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u120/kingkonggodzilla/leonard_zpswtmdlyy2.jpg

I mean, all fairness to the Lord, that house does need to be picked up a bit.

i stared at that photo waiting for the spooky ghost to pop out

No, the ghost got popped at the stoplight, read upthread.

The elections may not have gone well (with Attorney general Jim Hood being the last remaining Democrat) but at least this magazine is around now, digitally

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/life/2015/11/02/folklife-digital-magazine-highlights-unique-mississippi/74881810/

http://www.mississippifolklife.org/

No politics, just music and stuff

Better not be a bunch of sweet tea and kudzu, I'm warnin ya.

Ha ha. Nope, goat meat at the Otha Turner family blues fife picnic in the hill country

http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2016/feb/13/big-freedia-calls-bullsht-plans-sue-hattiesburg-cl/
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2016/feb/13/hattiesburg-club-owner-accuses-mississippi-jim-cro/

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/dailyledes/2016/02/23/despicable-image-shows-why-mississippi-needs-new-flag/80795180/

people are SO MAD at the C-L for sponsoring the contest and giving racists a platform!

x-post -Big Freedia getting barred from Mississippi show getting attention everywhere

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/21/mississippi-big-freedia-twerking-concert-shut-down-beyonce

Good.

The ACLU should get involved

http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2016/feb/24/mississippi-governor-declares-april-confederate-hi/

April is Confederate Heritage Month in Mississippi proclaims the Governor

What better month to celebrate one's Confederate heritage than the month in which your forefathers gave up, surrendered and laid down their arms to Gen. Grant.

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/03/30/3764798/mississippi-anti-lgbt-bill/

Many states have considered bills that enable discrimination against the LGBT community, but Mississippi’s proposed legislation is perhaps the most explicit in this regard. HB 1523 spells out in storied detail all of the different ways that a person should be able to mistreat people for being LGBT without consequences from the government.

The bill does not pretend to be neutral; it only protects people with anti-LGBT religious beliefs and nobody else:

The sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions protected by this act are the belief or conviction that:
(a) Marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman;
(b) Sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage; and
(c) Male (man) or female (woman) refer to an individual’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at time of birth.

^^^^^ Approved 80-39 by the House last month, approved 31-17 by the Senate today. Governor has indicated he will sign it. Way to fucking go, Mississippi.

Super disappointing, and about as hateful a bill as the new law in NC.

First reported 2-3 days ago, starting to hit the national news.

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2016/04/02/mississippi-rv-park-owner-evicts-interracial-couple/82469086/

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/03/mississippi-isnt-worried-about-boycotts.html

Unlike Georgia (or the more proximate Louisiana), Mississippi has not gone completely hog-wild for film and TV subsidies. Yes, it has a subsidy program, but one with outlays (per project and overall) that are limited by law. So its lawmakers are less subject to pressure from Hollywood moguls who threaten not to rip off its taxpayers anymore if the state champions discrimination.

Of perhaps even greater importance given the sports-mad nature of the Deep South, Mississippi is not going to be hosting any Super Bowls or any college-football national championships (or NCAA basketball Final Fours) in the near future. It also differs from Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, and North Carolina in having no college-football bowl games being played within its boundaries.

...Perhaps more to the point, Bryant's a guy who seems to be comfortable living in the past, as evidenced by the fact that thanks to him Mississippi will begin celebrating Confederate Heritage Month

I wonder if the day will ever come when someone, anyone realizes the connection between Mississippi's politics and the fact that it is by any reasonable standards a third-world shithole. Second-highest teen pregnancy rate (after New Mexico), worst childhood literacy rate (tied with New Mexico!), second-highest murder rate (after Louisiana), and on and on.

The other people need to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps myth will never die

I spent about two years in Mississippi, living in Indianola and Greenville. That was about 20 years ago. In the time since then, almost any positive memories, impressions or beliefs have been washed away by shit like this.

I know someone who teaches at a University there and also does work setting up blues trail landmarks, and writing about Mississippi musicians. He's not happy with the politics there, of course.