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NEW: Systemic racism built Mississippi. Gov. Tate Reeves claims it doesn't exist.
But this isn't a report about what "both sides are saying."
This is an in-depth look at the facts—which demonstrate the myriad ways in which the governor is wrong. •1 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
But this isn't a report about what "both sides are saying."
This is an in-depth look at the facts—which demonstrate the myriad ways in which the governor is wrong. •1 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
The Lede: "On the penultimate day of the Confederate Heritage Month he proclaimed for the second year in a row, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves made a bold declaration: 'There is not systemic racism in America.'" •2 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
The announcement could come as a relief to the 38% of Mississippians who are Black. But around 16% of them won't have the opportunity to express their gratitude to the governor; they're systematically disenfranchised due to an 1890 Jim Crow law. •3 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
Systemic Racism, a definition: “policies and practices that exist throughout a whole society or organization, & that result in and support a continued unfair advantage to some people and unfair or harmful treatment of others based on race.” (Cambridge) •4 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
Gov. Reeves' pronouncement that systemic racism does not exist comes as the state, with his support, is arguing in federal court that Black residents can't sue to force the state to ensure Black kids receive the same quality education as white kids. •5 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
"80% of Mississippi’s highest-performing school districts are majority-white & all its failing school districts are majority-Black. ... MS operates 2 types of schools: high-performing schools for white children and failing schools for Black children.” •6 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
"The SPLC noted immense disparities, with the plaintiffs’ Black children attending schools that 'lack textbooks, literature, basic supplies, experienced teachers, sports and other extracurricular activities, tutoring programs, and even toilet paper.'" •7 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
Reeves’ declaration that systemic racism does not exist in the country also came on the heels of a breakdown in the capital city’s water system, which left residents of 80%-Black Jackson without drinkable running water for a month from Feb-March. •8 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
Jackson is a city where potholes go unfilled as state leaders, decade after decade, have refused to invest in the city’s crumbling infrastructure—a decline that began after white residents abandoned the city following public school integration. •9 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
But with few improvements, many who can afford to move have left the city, further shrinking the tax base and leaving poorer, mostly Black Jacksonians with fewer opportunities and the city with less funding. •10 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
White leaders and Black leaders alike often argue that the way out of poverty is education.
But Mississippi's funding scheme for public schools relies significantly on the local tax base. In poorer neighborhoods, that perpetuates the cycle. •11 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
But Mississippi's funding scheme for public schools relies significantly on the local tax base. In poorer neighborhoods, that perpetuates the cycle. •11 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
At 99% Black Raines Elementary, which a mother described as "old, dark and gloomy—like a jail," "paint is peeling off the walls, water spots are visible on the ceilings & lunches sometimes have curdled milk & rotten fruit,” a 2017 complaint reads. •12 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
The lawsuit, Williams v. Reeves, notes that only 11% of students at the low-income plaintiffs’ predominantly Black public schools were proficient in reading; but at three wealthier, majority-white schools, 65% of children were proficient in reading. •13 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
The racial disparities in education continue despite the fact that Mississippi enshrined a vow to operate a “uniform system of free public schools” in its 1869 constitution, allowing for its readmittance to the Union as a state after the Civil War. •14 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
In 1890, white Democratic Mississippi lawmakers began drafting a new Constitution riddled with Jim Crow laws.
It instituted an explicitly white supremacist regime, criminalizing & denying opportunity to the state’s Black residents. •15 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
It instituted an explicitly white supremacist regime, criminalizing & denying opportunity to the state’s Black residents. •15 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
Gov. James K. Vardaman:
“There's no use to equivocate or lie about the matter. Mississippi’s constitutional convention of 1890 was held for no other purpose than to eliminate the n-ger from politics. Not the ‘ignorant & vicious'...but the n-ger.” •16 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
“There's no use to equivocate or lie about the matter. Mississippi’s constitutional convention of 1890 was held for no other purpose than to eliminate the n-ger from politics. Not the ‘ignorant & vicious'...but the n-ger.” •16 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
Mississippi's 1890 Jim Crow constitution continues to succeed in disenfranchising Black voters.
About 10% of state residents overall are barred from voting due to felony disenfranchisement.
Among Black Mississippians? 16% are disenfranchised. •17 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
About 10% of state residents overall are barred from voting due to felony disenfranchisement.
Among Black Mississippians? 16% are disenfranchised. •17 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
In fact, the group of 130,000 Black Mississippians who are permanently barred from voting is almost triple the size of the 45,000-vote margin by which Republican Tate Reeves defeated Democrat Jim Hood in the 2019 governor’s race. •18 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
The group of 130,000 Black Mississippians who are barred from voting by the 1890 Jim Crow law is almost 2x as large as the 66,000-vote-margin by which Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a white Republican, defeated opponent Mike Espy, a Black Democrat, in 2018. •19 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
Gov. Reeves says there is no systemic racism in America.
His state is the Blackest in America. Yet 13 white Republicans hold all 8 top elected state offices, both US Senate seats & ¾ House seats.
Mississippi last had a Black US senator in the 1883. •20 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
His state is the Blackest in America. Yet 13 white Republicans hold all 8 top elected state offices, both US Senate seats & ¾ House seats.
Mississippi last had a Black US senator in the 1883. •20 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
How did so many Black voters become disenfranchised?
Even after the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act ended many Jim Crow provisions, felony disenfranchisement endured in Mississippi and in other states across the country. •21 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
Even after the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act ended many Jim Crow provisions, felony disenfranchisement endured in Mississippi and in other states across the country. •21 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
After poll taxes and literacy tests ended, federal leaders found ways to implement new criminal statutes that would disproportionately target and criminalize Black men, including by hyping up stories of Black crime and waging a "drug war." •22
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GOP strategist Ken Phillips in 1969: "Nixon’s successful presidential election campaign could point the way toward...a new Republican majority, if Republicans continued to campaign primarily on...racial issues, using coded antiblack rhetoric." •23
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Nixon Policy Adviser John Ehrlichman: “We knew (that)...by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities." •24 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
Nixon Policy Adviser John Ehrlichman: “We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.” •25 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
Despite saying systemic racism is not real, Gov. Reeves is no stranger to it. He was a member of Kappa Alpha Order, a fraternity known for wearing blackface, hurling racial epithets at Black students & holding Confederate-themed balls. •26
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Of course. Gov. Reeves also declared Confederate Heritage Month in April 2020, when 70% of Mississippi's COVID-19 victims were Black, and again in 2021.
In 2013, he spoke at a neo-Confederate gathering in Vicksburg. •27
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In 2013, he spoke at a neo-Confederate gathering in Vicksburg. •27
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At a 2020 COVID-19 presser, Reeves would only say he'd been to many "costume parties" when asked if he ever wore the Confederate uniform at a frat party.
Then, MS State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs acknowledged systemic racism in health care. •28 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
Then, MS State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs acknowledged systemic racism in health care. •28 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
“Racism, it has very bad health effects. It worsens cardiovascular problems and other heart issues," the Mississippi State Health Officer, sitting next to Gov. Reeves, said last year.
But Gov. Reeves now falsely claims systemic racism doesn't exist. •29 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
But Gov. Reeves now falsely claims systemic racism doesn't exist. •29 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
After Gov. Reeves denied the existence of systemic racism during Fox News’ “Red State Trailblazers Town Hall” he implied that Mississippi's 2020 Black Lives Matter protests were somehow different than those in other parts of the country. •30 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
“In Mississippi, I was proud of the fact that we had peaceful protesters but we did not have one event in which there was a riot,” Gov. Reeves said. “The reason for that is in our state that we back the blue, we support the police.” •31 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
But most of the Mississippians who marched in Black Lives Matter protests did not claim to “Back the Blue” (unlike many of the insurrectionists at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th who left more than 100 Capitol Police Officers injured and one dead). •32 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
Black Lives Matter protesters were specifically protesting systemic racism—which Gov. Reeves says does not exist—in policing.
In August 2020, Reeves suggested that high rates of gun ownership in Mississippi explain a lack of BLM “riots." •33 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
In August 2020, Reeves suggested that high rates of gun ownership in Mississippi explain a lack of BLM “riots." •33 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
Gov. Tate Reeves: "Watching violence spike in other parts of the country makes me very grateful for Mississippi’s firm commitment to the 2nd Amendment. The way to prevent lawlessness is widespread citizen protection." (Aug. 2020) •34 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked Gov. Reeves what he believes children should learn in school public schools.
"It seems like many people in the Democrat [sic] Party are putting down America day in and day out," he said. •35 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
"It seems like many people in the Democrat [sic] Party are putting down America day in and day out," he said. •35 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
"It’s as if they want to act as if there's not such a thing as the American dream,” said Gov. Reeves, a wealthy white man born to the founder of a multi-million dollar company & who sends his kids to a $15,000 prep school.
"They're absolutely wrong." •36 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
"They're absolutely wrong." •36 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
White Democrats, known as Dixiecrats, built the state's Jim Crow foundations. And many white Republicans today rely on those foundations to maintain power.
But systemic racism is bigger than individuals or parties. That's what makes it systemic! •37 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
But systemic racism is bigger than individuals or parties. That's what makes it systemic! •37 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
You don't have to live in a state famous for lynchings and cotton plantations for systemic racism to be rampant. Blue NYC:
"Anti-black racism is present in almost every facet of New York City life, charges a new Commission on Human Rights report." •38 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thecity.nyc/platform/amp/2020/6/9/21286102/black-new-yorkers-describe-racism-as-inescapable-in-quietly-released-human-rights-report
"Anti-black racism is present in almost every facet of New York City life, charges a new Commission on Human Rights report." •38 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thecity.nyc/platform/amp/2020/6/9/21286102/black-new-yorkers-describe-racism-as-inescapable-in-quietly-released-human-rights-report
Gov. @TateReeves said: "There is not systemic racism in America."
What he said is 100% false. Systemic racism didn't just build Mississippi—it built America, in many cases, literally. Enslaved people built the White House.
There is no ambiguity. •39 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
What he said is 100% false. Systemic racism didn't just build Mississippi—it built America, in many cases, literally. Enslaved people built the White House.
There is no ambiguity. •39 https://www.mississippifreepress.org/11705/systemic-racism-built-mississippi-gov-reeves-says-it-doesnt-exist/
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•confronts the realities of systemic racism
•puts people and truth over partisan politics
...Then follow @MSFreePress & consider a 1x or recurring donation: http://mfp.ms/donate
