Social Stratification in the Deep South

From June 5, 2007

After a pleasant and great night out at Po’ Monkey’s, our destination for today was the notorious and depressing Mississippi State Penitentiary called Parchman. Parchman sits on a plot of land measuring roughly 18,000 square acres where it seems to be its own little self-sustaining “community” (with that term being used very loosely). Driving into the gates of the penitentiary, I had very little expectations on a specific level, but I did believe that it would be very difficult and disturbing to witness some of the things that go on in one of the state’s three penitentiaries.
Parchman outnumbers Wake Forest undergraduate students in terms of population by a few hundred people. As an all-male, maximum security prison, I find it very odd and illogical that the majority of the workers are young black females. Not only are these young girls unable to provide the proper level of protection for themselves and the security of the prison, they are just too young to have the proper experience in dealing with hardened criminals in such an institution like Parchman. Issues of liability and accountability begin to arise just from that initial realization as we entered Parchman.
For so many reasons, it seems that the overall status of this penitentiary is to uphold the slave labor system. I think that the history of the Deep South indicates that when slavery was abolished and sharecroppers came to learn of some of their new rights, the whites in the south tried to develop new ways to imprison people and force blacks to provide free labor. The judicial system in the Delta seems to have worked against blacks by creating and upholding laws that they knew were either unjust or too harsh a punishment for the act committed.
There are glaring issues of corruption in Parchman. The first prisoner who spoke with us had so many things to say about the food, the forced farm labor, and the overall lack of protection and humane treatment while in prison. The administrative bodies that control Parchman should be held accountable for their actions, or lack thereof. The overall experience of Parchman was incredibly eye-opening.

From June 4, 2007

Today we traveled through the Mississippi Delta, more specifically, Cleveland, Mississippi, as well as the surrounding cities and communities. It was very interesting to look at the stratification in this area and also see how amazingly different it was moving from one side of the tracks to the next. The area is heavily farmed and many of their major crops include corn, cotton, and catfish. I had very little expectations in regard to the status of blacks in this area. I did not think that they would have been allowed to develop their own community to the level that they apparently had in Mound Bayou. As we drove through Mound Bayou, the oldest municipality for share-cropping blacks, it was very inspirational but also disappointing. They seemed to be well-ahead of their time in terms of social progress for blacks and the advancement of minority status in society. At the same time, it was disappointing to look at the dramatically underdeveloped town that was once one of the most advanced places of its kind. To think that this community may have come falling down at the hands of scheming blacks and conspiracy angers me greatly. In some respects, this community was a shining example of what blacks should have been trying to do all over the south. At a time when whites did not want blacks around and fought integration with their last breath, perhaps, more communities like Mound Bayou would have saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of blacks.

Skipping ahead, Po’ Monkey’s was a high point in the trip. I am a huge music fan and witnessing live blues music in a jook joint is definitely an experience that I have always wanted and will definitely never forget. Early in the afternoon when we went to visit the historic site, I was very skeptical as to how all of us, in addition to the rest of the people visiting, were going to be able to make it into such a dilapidated building. I thought to myself about the public safety issues of cramming a bunch of people into a shack-like building and jumping and dancing to good music! To my pleasant surprise, things were great while inside Po’ Monkey’s. I felt like it was important for our group to immerse ourselves in the musical aspect of the Mississippi Delta. As noted in the article on jook joints, for sharecropping blacks, this was all that they had to themselves as a community. The blacks in this day utilized their tiny sharecropping shacks in more ways than many people would have ever thought possible and they worked hard to have that time for their own enjoyment. The blues music of the Delta was a result of the struggle that blacks felt every day of their lives while working out in the fields under harsh circumstances. Being able to experience that music firsthand made our visit to the Delta that much more authentic.

From June 3, 2007

For me, the “mega church” we visited on Sunday wasn’t really exceptionally “mega” at all. Coming from a church with a congregation of at least four times that size, the experience was not overwhelming at all. I was expecting a much larger and more technologically advanced building with at least a few jumbo television monitors, an assortment of bibles, elaborate walkways, and a band with numerous musicians. When we arrived, the location of the church was surprising to say the least; it is located in the middle of a rough neighborhood and as a result has bars on the front windows. The location of the church puts them in a very interesting social position, they more than likely feel a responsibility to the surrounding community to give back to those around them who are in need.

In terms of the service, I feel that it was a very open and thoughtful sermon that was geared towards not only the adults in the audience but also all of the youth. The message of not looking to Michael Jordan, or basically any worldly person, but instead to biblical figures like Daniel, was very effective and eye-opening. This message was more universal while the one from 16th Street Baptist Church was more specific. Seeing a black woman preach was nothing incredibly groundbreaking for me as that is a relatively common practice at my church. For many of my classmates, however, it is apparently very unusual and perhaps even prohibited to allow women to preach to the congregation. I feel like this is something that puts a lot of perspective on my views of women’s status in religion. I used to feel that women were sometimes put down in my church and considered second-class to men. However much that perception may be presented in my congregation, it seems that this patriarchic view is carried out more so in other religions. I think that is an issue that should be addressed in all religions as it clearly identifies some of the few inequalities that can develop based on religion.

Today we visited the 9th Ward of New Orleans and a social group entitled ACORN. ACORN is the nation’s largest community organization of low and moderate income families, striving for social justice and stronger communities. It seems that ACORN works for the downtrodden and poor in the midst of a city that is trying to disenfranchise them. While listening to the representative from ACORN, the concept of gentrification popped into my mind. Although the formal definition of gentrification involves physical renovation that brings about raised property values and an influx of upper-class citizens who prevent the former, lower class dwellers, from returning to their homes, there seem to be many parallels. While the major “renovations” obviously came from the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, the fact still remains that the upper-class inhabitants of New Orleans seem to be preventing the flow of minorities and the underprivileged from coming back into their homes.

Again, we can see the perfect example of how people with means and power can control and manipulate the system to make it work in their favor. These rich people stand to gain millions of dollars by disenfranchising the people who are now viewed as refugees throughout the country. The fact that some people are being turned away from their homes is very disturbing to say the least. It is ridiculous to me that some people are more concerned with profiting from the tragedies of Katrina rather than showing compassion enough to try to find ways to make things better for everyone. ACORN seems to work against such disenfranchisements and I honor their efforts.

While traveling through the 9th ward, it became quite apparent just how much damage New Orleans has endured in certain areas. The major problems, as we have all talked about to great extent, came when the levees broke. Apparently, New Orleans did dodge the bullet in terms of the storm, however, the water that accumulated behind the levee surged so strongly that water flooded the entire city and created more problems than many other areas victim to the storm. This mistake was avoidable and manmade, not a product of a natural disaster. ACORN representatives explained that the politics behind accountability are entirely frustrating and the end is no where in sight at the moment. I feel that politicians and government officials have a responsibility to protect its citizens and not treat people like second class citizens in their country. All of the people displaced from Katrina have homes and they deserve to be in them like everyone else. The practices occurring in terms of Katrina business seem to only facilitate the disenfranchisement of minorities and the poor while perpetuating the vicious cycle government failures at the present time.

After conducting two oral histories and getting to know the people of the area a bit better, I find that my opinion of Hancock County and the Bay St. Louis area has changed somewhat. Having arrived at the library, my opinion of the community was somewhat skewed. I believe that the people of Hancock County are more diverse than I perceived them to be upon first observation. The people that I interviewed were people with two legitimately different stories; one of them stayed through the hurricane while another came back in the aftermath.

My first interviewee was blessed enough to return to an almost untouched house. One of the most obvious questions asked was whether or not there were issues of guilt that went along with that experience. Our interviewee of course said that she had moments of survivor guilt which I feel is completely valid and hard to avoid when people around you may have lost not only their homes but even family members. To survive such a tragedy is one thing, but to survive that tragedy with a home still standing is a completely different story. It seems that for my interviewee, her issues began to get worse once she returned to a city that was drastically changed. When we asked what she felt like she lost more than anything else, her answer was one word, “Freedom!” Among other things, they had enforced curfews and were not allowed to enter their homes, regardless of damage. One major issue she had with the experience was losing faith in her local police. The interviewee felt that the police had abandoned them and betrayed their trust, first by allowing other visiting officers to abuse citizens of the area, and then by refusing to honor their wishes to return home even after showing proof of where they lived. Issues of police brutality arose when sharing a story of a partner being forced to the ground and pressed to the wheel of a vehicle after getting arrested for sitting in a car too late at night. Being a black male, I feel that it is interesting to note that a middle-aged white person has developed a negative opinion of the police post-Katrina when I have formulated my own negative opinion of many police officers at such a young age without these traumatic experiences. This may speak to issues of social standings and the level of trust certain people have in the system supposedly built to protect them.

In the other oral history, a person spoke of being relatively lower income and not really having much of anything to lose in terms of possessions but instead discussed losing two close family members. The trauma of losing relatives under those circumstances was painful enough, but for the interviewee to then go on and explain the confusion surrounding the identification of their remains truly revealed how damaging things had become. To be able to have such understanding about the stresses that all people were facing at the time and honor a sincere apology from officials reflects on that person’s strength of character. While their stories were different, after the Demon Storm, they both began a journey into healing and rebuilding. This struggle is something that they will have to work on for many years to come.

I think it is very surprising to have heard that one of my interviewees would stay through another devastating hurricane. Personally, I understand not wanting to leave the place you have lived all your life, but at the same time, to have gone through so much in one place, I think that it would be less emotionally taxing in some ways to actually leave the area and try to begin again. Either way it would be difficult, but for me, I think leaving would be a better alternative if at all possible.

I feel that it is incredibly important to preface this blog by saying that BY NO MEANS do I intend to marginalize any of the tragedies surrounding the people in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi. Hurricane Katrina is an all encompassing tragedy that did NOT discriminate. It impacted all people’s lives without regard for class or social standing. It brought destruction and death and no matter what, the losses accumulated just a few years ago are extremely significant. With that being said, I think that it is important to note that the WORLD does in fact discriminate. This entire trip is a study on the stratification of the Deep South. This means that the essence of our course revolves around looking at the fact that there are those with and those without, people in power and people who are seemingly powerless, people who have a voice and people who go unheard. The current work that Bay Saint Louis is performing should be applauded in the highest. They are presently pulling themselves up by the proverbial bootstraps and although there is still work that needs to be done, each day they seem to be approaching some sense of relative stability. (Relative stability of course in comparison to conditions immediately after Hurricane Katrina.) For me to even begin imagining losing everything that I know and love, my home, is something I hope I never have to experience.

To continue the bootstraps metaphor, a question that I am forced to ask myself as I begin to analyze parts of this extremely difficult situation is: What happens to people who never had bootstraps, or even boots, in the first place to pull themselves up? It seems to me that Bay Saint Louis is a very close knit community with the means to make things happen. They seem to be very well connected to public offices and elected officials and quite capable in the areas of mobilizing efforts to get goals accomplished. For the less fortunate areas throughout the Gulf Coast and possibly the country, I feel that the inherent inequalities presently found in our society greatly disadvantage their opportunity to survive such a disaster. If two people run a race and one has a head start while the other has a delayed start, there is an obvious upper hand for the runner who receives the head start. Just as in life, there are people in our country who may have never even been up to a standard level of living before Katrina. Those very people would obviously be even less capable of surviving after such a deadly natural disaster.

What bothers me is not that anyone takes advantage of any opportunity afforded to them. Instead, I am upset at the fact that opportunities are never offered to all people because of socioeconomic differences. I think that there are numerous issues of accountability that arise when there is such a strong need for help in some damaged areas while others have been repaired. In communities where African-Americans or other minorities with fewer connections live, were relationships strong enough with people in high places to make things happen in a prompt manner or did they go unnoticed, forced to wait for help from a federal system that had already neglected many of their basic necessities prior to Katrina. The thing that angers me the most is the fact that if socioeconomic issues were more closely observed and better addressed by our government, perhaps, there would have been fewer deaths in this entire misfortune.

As I relive the time that we spent in 16^th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham I couldn’t help but keep thinking that four little girls were killed in that basement.  The thought that anyone could seek to harm other people, especially children in a place of worship, is so utterly disturbing that attending service seemed almost surreal in some aspects.

Having said that, I feel pretty comfortable saying that I mostly knew what to expect from services on Sunday.  I think that growing up in a black Baptist church, I already knew that the service would more than likely have live music and singing, a somewhat animated preacher, and a congregation that was welcoming and highly involved in the service.  The only thing that really surprised me about the service was the makeup of the congregation.  The church was not very busy at all, in fact, many of the aisles were completely empty.  Aside from the generally weak turnout, there were very few young people in the church, especially young men.   I expected many more people to belong to such a historically significant church in the area.  Having grown up in a very large black Baptist church, I am very familiar with the homiletics of black ministers and his style of preaching was nothing short of what I would have expected.  As a black male, I was very comfortable and experienced the church in a relaxed manner, almost as if it were my own.  In regards to our conversation on the bus about the church, I found that people had various opinions about the church experience and whether or not they enjoyed the overall visit.  I think that the church minister was mostly concerned with addressing his more mature audience rather than seeking out lessons that would appeal to a younger audience.  As a result, I think that the church has lost a lot of potential support and membership from new minds that could keep the church afloat in the future.

Today we traveled to downtown Birmingham. As I got off the bus, I went directly to the group of people at Kelly Ingram Park where there was some sort of rally being held. As I sat down to listen to the program, I engaged in conversation with an older man who had a lot to say about the government and the state of young blacks in Birmingham and around the country. One of the most interesting points the man made when we spoke was about how many of the whites who previously lived in Birmingham had moved into a neighboring county. He went on to talk about how a majority of those white people who moved to the neighboring county would commute to work in Birmingham in county official and public office positions. Aside from the obvious problems with this, there are inherent obstacles that arise from misplaced representation controlling what goes on in a particular region.

I feel like a lot of the problems with the flawed conditions of the Deep South lie in the fact that although things may seem better on the surface, the true problems of inequalities have been ignored and disregarded because now, whites have the option of moving away, no longer forced to coexist with blacks in the South. The rally appeared to have low attendance in general and of those people present, there may have been two or three whites total. I think that the obvious issues of white flight, in Birmingham especially, may only help to facilitate racist beliefs while allowing people to escape actual confrontation. There is no longer the same sense of struggle or urgency for change because the battle has developed into a much more subliminal one.

Looking back on the discussion we had with the Shores sisters and Peggy Heidi, I really appreciate their point of view and perspectives on the Deep South. I was impressed with the Honorable Judge’s comments. It seems that she has had a fiery spirit for most of her life. These sisters lived through attempted kidnappings, attempted murders, and general acts of terrorism all because of their father’s position in the community and his legislation to end segregation. The circumstances in Birmingham gave these sisters and their entire family so many reasons to carry hate in their hearts. Even though certain instances in their lives may have caused them to act out in anger, the sisters seemed to channel most of that negative energy into motivation to make their lives better and learn how to combat oppression. I think that speaking with them was very valuable in gaining a better understanding of the way things were during the movement.

After our first day of traveling I feel that our experiences so far have opened up the floodgates on many issues that we will further explore throughout our trip. One of the first questions we addressed was the issue of identification with southern culture. As a person from the south, I believe that there is a strong dichotomous relationship between how people project themselves to others and how people really feel. It seems that in the south, a person can project a very friendly and accepting outward attitude while in reality passing judgment on their subjects. I believe that a lot of this stems from the strong religious values that many people in the south have. In other areas of the country, people seem to possess more of a carefree attitude where they are less afraid to express their outright opinions without fear of judgment. Many people outside the south may be more forward and less likely to care about what others think. In general, the dynamics of our group also seem to be very interesting and may pose potential challenges as we travel through the south. As we continue our journey, we will almost definitely face specific challenges that will be a direct result of the phenotypic makeup of our class. This is an interesting aspect of our trip that I am definitely looking forward to observing. I believe that our trip is going to be informative and thought-provoking. Overall, our first day in the Deep South was a success and I am looking forward to the rest of this trip!