Emmett Till. Church bombings and burnings. Lynchings. Mob violence and mob rule. Denial and deprivation. Racism and hatred. Whites oppressing Blacks. How about it Mississippi? How about it McComb? Is this the kind of history that we want today?

Well, it is just the kind of history that we appear to be making, and people else where are taking notice. First Black mayor. He tries to change things so that everyone is included, even Blacks. The good-ole-boy white power structure resists. The mayor is ultimately stripped of his authority and powers. Never happened before. Never in history to the other previous all white mayors. Ridiculous!

Is that the kind of history we really want? There is no post-racial era. It has always been about race and power in this country. White people have it, others are denied. White people on top, Blacks and Indians on the bottom or underneath.

The story out of Tallahatchie County, MS that we provided on the front page of our newspaper is a jarring reminder of how racist the state of Mississippi still is! What they did up there two weeks ago is not much different than what this white privileged-racist system is doing down here in Pike County. I am sharing a portion of the incident as reported by Ronald Herd II for W.E.A.L.L.B.E. News:

“On August 20, 2009, Lawyer Organizes Lynch Mob & Uses Machine Guns, Dogs & Tanks To Hunt Down A Black Man Where The Lynching Of Emmett Till Took Place…”

“Nowhere in the civilized worlds save the United States of America, do men, possessing all civil and political power, go out in bands of 50 to 5,000 to hunt down, shoot, hang or burn to death an individual unarmed and absolutely powerless.” ~Ida B. Wells-Barnett

“Nearly 54 years after the traumatic lynching of Emmett Till which shocked the nation and galvanized the Modern American Civil Rights Movement, the son of one of the lawyers who defended Till’s murderers organizes another lynch mob in Tallahatchie County out for blood… This isn’t a Hollywood movie…Nor is this Wilmington, NC, 1898; Elaine, Arkansas, 1919; Tulsa, OK, 1921; Rosewood, FL, 1923…This happened Thursday, August 20, 2009 in Sumner, MS, in Tallahatchie County…Yes the same county where a young Black boy named Emmett Till met his doom/destiny some 54 years ago this week…This time a young Black man named William Pittman,28 years old, of Tutwiler, MS, was the target of an unauthorized manhunt by a law official and his posse of “deputized” gun toting thugs… Sometime Thursday, August 20, 2009, Pittman & his friend McKeel Scott (at the time of this writing his whereabouts is still unknown) were accused by John Whitten III, the District Attorney of Tallahatchie County, of burglarizing the home of a neighbor and quite possible a relative…According to several sources, the boys were not actually caught in anybody’s home at that time, but were still accused. This supposed act infuriated Mr. Whitten, whose father, John Whitten Jr., was the defense attorney for the killers of Emmett Till (the brothers J.W. Milam & Roy Bryant), and so instead of going through the proper channels he decided to seek his own brand of vigilante justice, southern style. He organized a militia of what could best be described as a lynch mob...”

You can read about what happened in the article on the front page entitled “Mississippi Manhunt”. The son of the same man who defended the killers of Emmett Till, a 13 year old boy from up north, who was brutally lynched for whistling at a white girl. He organized and led the lynch mob two weeks ago against the 28 year old Pittman. At least one of white men in the mob was reported saying that he would kill the Black man if they caught him. And, they were shooting those guns!

My point is, Mississippi is still a very racist state that continues to be controlled by racist white people. Don’t believe me? Just look at the state flag. Look at that story again. Just look at what was done to the mayor and his administration in McComb. Is this the kind of history that we want?

Even President Obama is ‘catching it’ from every direction. First Black president. He has more death threats. He is pictured more often as a villain and a monster by so many white people who are no longer afraid or hesitant to come out and show and tell how they really feel. They are more against him and everything he is trying to do, not because they are against health care. It is because they are against him.

Sound familiar? How many times have I heard from people who are opposed to Mayor Zach Patterson, that they say he has done absolutely nothing. Nothing! Well, that just goes to show you that they are simply against him. Because he has done so much good during his term, and he is not finished yet. Those people are in total denial because they are against him--the first Black mayor. And, they are against anything that he introduces in his administration. Case in point:

Remember Tasha Dillon, recommended by the mayor to be director of the Community Relations and Tourism Department? This was a newly formed or an expanded form of the old Tourism Department that was ran exclusively by white folks. The city board approved the expansion of this department and made Dillon the head of it. Her funding came from the motel tax. Dillon has done an exceptional job with that department. More for McComb than at any other time in its history. But she has come under attack and unwarranted criticism. Why?

I say it is racism in McComb at its best. Plain and simple. Let’s take a closer look and see if I know what I am talking about. One of the proud good-ole-boys in the white racist system is Jack Ryan, editor of the Enterprise-Journal. He unashamedly promotes white privilege in his newspaper, especially in his editorials. On Wednesday, he published two editorials that I believe show his true disposition.

In the editorial titled “Not all festivals tax supported” it says that “the festival (Iron Horse) could and should be revived next year, and, with the proper leadership, it could happen without any taxpayer contributions at all.” I sure hope that they weren’t trying to imply that Dillon was not a good leader, or that it was her fault that THAT festival was having problems and would not be supported by the city this year.

Indeed, she was never involved with the Iron Horse Festival until the city board requested that THIS YEAR that she get involved and help the real leaders of that festival: Vicki Webb, Brook LeBlanc, Carmen Walsh, and Roger Nickerson.

For the record, the Iron Horse Festival should have fallen under Dillon’s care when she became director of that department. But, I am convinced that the organizers of the Iron Horse Festival never wanted a Black person in charge of it. That festival has always catered to white people first and sometimes only to white people. That has never changed. Dillon has never work with or done any planning for that festival. NEVER!

The editorial said that “lately the city’s Community Relations and Tourism Department...has been calling the shots on the festival.” That’s just not true, Jack Ryan! That editorial suggest that the McComb Main Street Association and the Pike County Arts Council (same old good-ole-boy organizations) join other groups to resurrect that festival outside the direction of a city agency. But, it was not under the direction of a city agency.

Before Carmen Walsh quit her full-time position with the city she worked on the festival. So did LeBlanc who was a part-time city employee paid $25,000 with benefits and supplied with office space in a city owned building where she only worked on the festival for the Main Street Association. Previous Mayor Tom Walman authorized that the money be given to Walsh out of the motel tax for the festival. Webb, Walsh and LeBlanc have loss thousands of dollars on that festival, according to an investigation into their activities. Webb spent nearly $50,000 on Ray Charles one year and only a few hundred people showed up. Walsh and LeBlanc spent ten’s of thousands on a festival and never gave a full account of how the money was spent. They also paid $20,000 for entertainment that did not entertain and failed to have standard insurance coverage. Ryan, where is the proper leadership?

They have screwed up the festival and have not been accountable. And, the players are all white. Dillon is Black. She has never had a problem managing and being accountable for the money she receives.

Not so for Webb, Walsh and LeBlanc. Dillon’s festivals and even events on Summit Street drew massive numbers of people from out of town. There is no comparison between Dillon’s leadership and their’s.

So, why is she the villain. Is it because she is Black and successful? Is it because of racism? Is this the kind of history we really want?

Addition note: I would like to remind everyone to attend the McComb selectmen meeting with the legislators at 1pm Thursday, September 10th, at city hall board room to discuss the motel tax. This is a great opportunity to ask why Mims and Myers ended the Motel Tax and what specifically did Dillon do wrong, if anything.

Lonnie Ross, Editor