Assessing Race Relations Today
By Brother Rogers
As we celebrate the first Martin Luther King Holiday of the 21st century, it is an appropriate time to assess the state of race relations in our state and our community. We begin our new century with momentum from positive changes in the latter part of the 20th century.
Most significantly, the legal battle for equality has been won. Black Mississippians can vote, attend integrated schools, eat at any restaurant and sleep in any hotel. Mississippi has elected more blacks to public office than any other state. Our first black congressman since Reconstruction was elected in 1986 and went on to become our nation’s first black Secretary of Agriculture.
The South into which I was born in 1965 was far different. Achieving equality under the law for all Americans is one of our country’s greatest accomplishments of the last century, and we honor Martin Luther King, Jr. with a holiday because of his leadership in this effort.
Removing the shackles of legal segregation has allowed Mississippi to prosper like never before. We are no longer the pariah of the nation, and we have just completed the most booming decade in our state’s economic history. In addition, Mississippi’s own Oprah Winfrey and Jerry Rice are examples that today blacks from Mississippi can rise to the top of their professions.
Locally, blacks hold office in city hall, the courthouse and the state legislature. The Starkville School District successfully integrated in the 1970s, and regularly is recognized with national and state awards for its academic excellence. In the 1990s, the Martin Luther King Holiday has become a time for all races in our area to come together and celebrate the common bonds we share.
If only this picture of harmony and togetherness was the whole story, but sadly we know it is not. For the most part, blacks and whites in our community still live separate lives. We live in separate neighborhoods, worship at separate churches, socialize at separate events, and sometimes attend separate schools.
The Clarion Ledger recently profiled the Delta in a series of articles and pointed to its separate and unequal school systems. Since integration, most whites go to private schools, while most blacks attend public schools. We don’t have to look to the Delta to see separate, unequal schools; they are right here in Oktibbeha County.
The racial implications of our unequal educational system sound like something from the days of Jim Crow. Almost all white children, wherever they live, have an opportunity for a decent education at the Starkville Public Schools or at Starkville Academy. Black children who live in the Oktibbeha County School District, a higher percentage of whom come from low income families, are not getting the same educational opportunities. The result: most white children in our community have access to a quality education while a significant number of black children do not. This scenario is what has kept our state at the bottom for too long, and yet it is continuing into the 21st century.
Mistrust still characterizes the relationship between many blacks and whites. I still hear some whites use the N-word with impunity as if they are proud not to be politically correct. On the other hand, I have talked to white teachers in public schools who have been falsely accused of racism by black parents and students. Trust is developed by successful interaction, and our tradition of separateness prevents this kind of trust-building interaction.
How can we improve race relations? Whites will tell you that blacks need to change. Blacks will tell you that whites need to change. No one wants to examine himself and change, and therein lies the problem.
The theme of this year’s King Holiday celebration is “Living the Dream: Where Do We Go From Here?” We have come a long way, and wherever we go from here, we need to go together.
Brother Rogers is assistant director of the Stennis Center and facilitator of the Race Relations Team.
As we celebrate the first Martin Luther King Holiday of the 21st century, it is an appropriate time to assess the state of race relations in our state and our community. We begin our new century with momentum from positive changes in the latter part of the 20th century.
Most significantly, the legal battle for equality has been won. Black Mississippians can vote, attend integrated schools, eat at any restaurant and sleep in any hotel. Mississippi has elected more blacks to public office than any other state. Our first black congressman since Reconstruction was elected in 1986 and went on to become our nation’s first black Secretary of Agriculture.
The South into which I was born in 1965 was far different. Achieving equality under the law for all Americans is one of our country’s greatest accomplishments of the last century, and we honor Martin Luther King, Jr. with a holiday because of his leadership in this effort.
Removing the shackles of legal segregation has allowed Mississippi to prosper like never before. We are no longer the pariah of the nation, and we have just completed the most booming decade in our state’s economic history. In addition, Mississippi’s own Oprah Winfrey and Jerry Rice are examples that today blacks from Mississippi can rise to the top of their professions.
Locally, blacks hold office in city hall, the courthouse and the state legislature. The Starkville School District successfully integrated in the 1970s, and regularly is recognized with national and state awards for its academic excellence. In the 1990s, the Martin Luther King Holiday has become a time for all races in our area to come together and celebrate the common bonds we share.
If only this picture of harmony and togetherness was the whole story, but sadly we know it is not. For the most part, blacks and whites in our community still live separate lives. We live in separate neighborhoods, worship at separate churches, socialize at separate events, and sometimes attend separate schools.
The Clarion Ledger recently profiled the Delta in a series of articles and pointed to its separate and unequal school systems. Since integration, most whites go to private schools, while most blacks attend public schools. We don’t have to look to the Delta to see separate, unequal schools; they are right here in Oktibbeha County.
The racial implications of our unequal educational system sound like something from the days of Jim Crow. Almost all white children, wherever they live, have an opportunity for a decent education at the Starkville Public Schools or at Starkville Academy. Black children who live in the Oktibbeha County School District, a higher percentage of whom come from low income families, are not getting the same educational opportunities. The result: most white children in our community have access to a quality education while a significant number of black children do not. This scenario is what has kept our state at the bottom for too long, and yet it is continuing into the 21st century.
Mistrust still characterizes the relationship between many blacks and whites. I still hear some whites use the N-word with impunity as if they are proud not to be politically correct. On the other hand, I have talked to white teachers in public schools who have been falsely accused of racism by black parents and students. Trust is developed by successful interaction, and our tradition of separateness prevents this kind of trust-building interaction.
How can we improve race relations? Whites will tell you that blacks need to change. Blacks will tell you that whites need to change. No one wants to examine himself and change, and therein lies the problem.
The theme of this year’s King Holiday celebration is “Living the Dream: Where Do We Go From Here?” We have come a long way, and wherever we go from here, we need to go together.
Brother Rogers is assistant director of the Stennis Center and facilitator of the Race Relations Team.