Comments on: Any and all acts deemed necessary

Any and all acts deemed necessary

marxchivist — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 21:50:43 -0800

The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission was created in 1956 by the Mississippi Legislature in the wake of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The Commission's express purpose was to "do and perform any and all acts and things deemed necessary and proper to protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi, and her sister states." In other words, it was an official tax-funded agency to combat the activities of the Civil Rights Movement. Their records are now online. [MI]

By: marxchivist

marxchivist — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 21:51:01 -0800

The search interface is somewhat clunky. The best way I found was to browse the folders by title. A few things I found: newspaper clippings on the Greensboro sit-ins, a list of homicides in Tallahatchie County with Emmett Till's cause of death listed as "other means,", a newsletter from the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and a letter speaking of "the invaders coming into Mississippi this summer." There are also photos [page very slow to load]. Hours of browsing if you are into this sort of thing. A short history of the Commission here.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 22:08:19 -0800

Majors represent, whoot whoot! OK, now that I got that out of the way. The Mississippi State museum and archives has always done a really impressive job at making sure not to cover up the state's ugly past. Slavery, racism, police brutality, government corruption, they are willing to lay it out for anyone to see. It is rare to see a state historical society so willing to let the facts stand for themselves. I remember one display they had back in my Millsaps days that showed local young whites verbally and physically abusing black soda fountain sit-in participants. The videos and pictures were undoctored and showed every disgusting and embarrassing detail. The captions were sure to include the names of the young white kids, most of whom were still local residents. I liked that.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 22:11:22 -0800

Correction: I shouldn't say the "always" were willing to show everything. I meant to say, in recent years they have been willing.

By: raysmj

raysmj — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 22:22:00 -0800

This has been online for years. The "now" makes it sound like the files just went up.

By: matteo

matteo — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 01:16:17 -0800

It is rare to see a state historical society so willing to let the facts stand for themselves. it's called "bragging"

By: amberglow

amberglow — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 06:28:12 -0800

By: nofundy

nofundy — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 06:28:40 -0800

Is "Mr. Corporation Fellater" Haley Barbour the current head of this "I Hate Black People" commission?

By: StrasbourgSecaucus

StrasbourgSecaucus — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 09:38:58 -0800

these are the kinds of reasons people have a poor impression of the South.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 10:25:13 -0800

Is "Mr. Corporation Fellater" Haley Barbour the current head of this "I Hate Black People" commission? What the hell kind of troll is that? The commission was abolished in 1973. Barbour was never a member. Whatever you don't like about Haley Barbour does not include anything in this post.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 15:35:23 -0800

and it's Trent Lott (and many many others--in the GOP and in punditry) who are the current heads of that commission now anyway.

By: Bugbread

Bugbread — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:24:49 -0800

StrasbourgSecaucus : "these are the kinds of reasons people have a poor impression of the South." And there's not much the south can do about it. Hide the info, and you're accused of sweeping it under the rug. Don't hide it, and internet jackasses say: matteo : "it's called 'bragging'"