This is akin to a hostile takeover
March 14, 2022 11:23 AM Subscribe
That part of the pretense for rescinding the (predominantly Black) town's charter is its debt, which was racked up by crooked white leadership before the town's current Black leadership came to power, is... really something.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:33 AM on March 14, 2022 [53 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:33 AM on March 14, 2022 [53 favorites]
I hope it gets loads of press so this town gets whatever help it might need, but not this same old bullshit.
posted by Glinn at 11:38 AM on March 14, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Glinn at 11:38 AM on March 14, 2022 [4 favorites]
The Tennessee Tribune posted the letter that was distributed to residents under the painfully frank headline, "Will Black People’s Land be Stolen in Tennessee – Again?"
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:40 AM on March 14, 2022 [17 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:40 AM on March 14, 2022 [17 favorites]
I guess I'll be eating at Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken tonight.
posted by all about eevee at 11:45 AM on March 14, 2022 [16 favorites]
posted by all about eevee at 11:45 AM on March 14, 2022 [16 favorites]
Also, Tennessee is awful and I hate living here.
posted by all about eevee at 11:48 AM on March 14, 2022 [27 favorites]
posted by all about eevee at 11:48 AM on March 14, 2022 [27 favorites]
Was the guy's name Big Daddy, Boss Hawg, or Boss Finley?
posted by Oyéah at 11:51 AM on March 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 11:51 AM on March 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
Wow, this is just naked bullying and abuse of power.
posted by Saxon Kane at 11:53 AM on March 14, 2022
posted by Saxon Kane at 11:53 AM on March 14, 2022
I feel like repeatedly tying Ford to racially-associated (if not motivated) land theft is going to do a lot of work here? Ford doesn't want prospective e-car buyers in Portland or DC to wonder if the purchase is ethical (or perhaps less ethical than right now given the rare earth metal sources).
posted by Slackermagee at 11:55 AM on March 14, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Slackermagee at 11:55 AM on March 14, 2022 [6 favorites]
Related: Abolish States: "The subgovernment form of “state” is, currently, the most effective tool for preventing actual democracy in the United States, and that fact is why conservatives are so dedicated to preserving the power of the states."
posted by BungaDunga at 11:58 AM on March 14, 2022 [38 favorites]
posted by BungaDunga at 11:58 AM on March 14, 2022 [38 favorites]
I don't think the references to Ford are meant to convey anything other than the fact that extensive development planned in the area is likely to increase the value of the property/area.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:06 PM on March 14, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:06 PM on March 14, 2022 [4 favorites]
I finally got around to reading The 1619 Project, and this sounds exactly like the kind of shit they report on in those essays: black people with something of value, white people using the full force of the state and/or federal government just taking it, or destroying it.
posted by nushustu at 12:34 PM on March 14, 2022 [40 favorites]
posted by nushustu at 12:34 PM on March 14, 2022 [40 favorites]
I don't think the references to Ford are meant to convey anything other than the fact that extensive development planned in the area is likely to increase the value of the property/area.
And that is precisely why shining a light on this and tying Ford to it - because if they pull out because of bad publicity, there IS no investment and no hungry landowners trying to buy it up.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:42 PM on March 14, 2022 [19 favorites]
And that is precisely why shining a light on this and tying Ford to it - because if they pull out because of bad publicity, there IS no investment and no hungry landowners trying to buy it up.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:42 PM on March 14, 2022 [19 favorites]
same old same old - screw up a town's welfare through corrupt practices then point the finger at the local leadership and have the state take it over
you can ask the city of benton harbor if a state takeover really helped with anything
then you can ask the city of flint how a state takeover worked for them - the state overseers were the ones who screwed up the water supply and subjected the entire town to lead poisoning
the people of mason will be screwed hard if they don't resist this - especially as their state government is even worse than michigan's was
posted by pyramid termite at 12:59 PM on March 14, 2022 [20 favorites]
you can ask the city of benton harbor if a state takeover really helped with anything
then you can ask the city of flint how a state takeover worked for them - the state overseers were the ones who screwed up the water supply and subjected the entire town to lead poisoning
the people of mason will be screwed hard if they don't resist this - especially as their state government is even worse than michigan's was
posted by pyramid termite at 12:59 PM on March 14, 2022 [20 favorites]
The irony is smeltable. The town, against all odds, seems to be fixing their problems and when it appears they’ve just about got them licked, we’ll, more odds get piled on.
Don’t give in.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 1:05 PM on March 14, 2022 [12 favorites]
Don’t give in.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 1:05 PM on March 14, 2022 [12 favorites]
Damn, that is some solid corruption there.
If you want to help the town take advantage of the coming changes, send them a few books or maybe an advisor. But then you won't be in a position to approve massive real estate deals with massive kickbacks.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:37 PM on March 14, 2022 [5 favorites]
If you want to help the town take advantage of the coming changes, send them a few books or maybe an advisor. But then you won't be in a position to approve massive real estate deals with massive kickbacks.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:37 PM on March 14, 2022 [5 favorites]
Remember when racism was covert? Shitty times, just like now.
posted by tommasz at 2:05 PM on March 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by tommasz at 2:05 PM on March 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
In fact the one thing I believe the comptroller about is that race is not the major defining factor here. They would be trying to screw a poor white community every bit as badly.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:12 PM on March 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:12 PM on March 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
In fact the one thing I believe the comptroller about is that race is not the major defining factor here. They would be trying to screw a poor white community every bit as badly.
I don't believe that, personally. If the people of Mason were mostly white, state officials might be trying to maneuver to get their beaks wet on the deal. But this particular flavor of paternalistic bullshit, insisting they don't have the means/faculties to administrate the town through this period of growth? That's a flavor of awful they only feel comfortable doing because these are Black folks.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:28 PM on March 14, 2022 [61 favorites]
I don't believe that, personally. If the people of Mason were mostly white, state officials might be trying to maneuver to get their beaks wet on the deal. But this particular flavor of paternalistic bullshit, insisting they don't have the means/faculties to administrate the town through this period of growth? That's a flavor of awful they only feel comfortable doing because these are Black folks.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:28 PM on March 14, 2022 [61 favorites]
They would be trying to screw a poor white community every bit as badly.
I too don't believe this. One of my grinding-axes is that the country isn't producing ghost towns anymore. Every former whistle-stop and coal vein that ever received a dime of tax dollars, now served by welfare-leveraging Walmarts and strip mall corporations, generally white, which complains and votes as if they have a right to exist forever. Heck, Tennessee probably has plenty themselves.
And they get that help. They get a seat at the table with the developers and maybe someone from Ford. They get the bribes and perks that come along with those town positions. Not when they're black, though.
posted by rhizome at 2:41 PM on March 14, 2022 [21 favorites]
I too don't believe this. One of my grinding-axes is that the country isn't producing ghost towns anymore. Every former whistle-stop and coal vein that ever received a dime of tax dollars, now served by welfare-leveraging Walmarts and strip mall corporations, generally white, which complains and votes as if they have a right to exist forever. Heck, Tennessee probably has plenty themselves.
And they get that help. They get a seat at the table with the developers and maybe someone from Ford. They get the bribes and perks that come along with those town positions. Not when they're black, though.
posted by rhizome at 2:41 PM on March 14, 2022 [21 favorites]
How about a GoFundMe ....
posted by IndelibleUnderpants at 3:00 PM on March 14, 2022
posted by IndelibleUnderpants at 3:00 PM on March 14, 2022
Local journalists and residents should already be filing FOIA requests for any documents related to this shakedown, especially between Mr Comptroller and the county government.
"I am very concerned that Mason’s history of mismanagement will prevent the town from benefitting from economic development" sounds like someone telling on himself. "People and companies will not invest their money in a poorly run town" sounds like a mob threat. I'd be looking very closely into relationships between the county leadership and property developers, and pay special attention to the powers over zoning and the ability to extract revenue that would go back to the county.
For example: the megasite authority (which includes the Tipton County executive, who's been in office for 35 years) is apparently considering retrofitting a prison into an RV park to house some of the construction workers. The location of the prison? Mason.
And yeah, abolish states.
posted by holgate at 3:01 PM on March 14, 2022 [5 favorites]
"I am very concerned that Mason’s history of mismanagement will prevent the town from benefitting from economic development" sounds like someone telling on himself. "People and companies will not invest their money in a poorly run town" sounds like a mob threat. I'd be looking very closely into relationships between the county leadership and property developers, and pay special attention to the powers over zoning and the ability to extract revenue that would go back to the county.
For example: the megasite authority (which includes the Tipton County executive, who's been in office for 35 years) is apparently considering retrofitting a prison into an RV park to house some of the construction workers. The location of the prison? Mason.
And yeah, abolish states.
posted by holgate at 3:01 PM on March 14, 2022 [5 favorites]
Related: Abolish States: "The subgovernment form of “state” is, currently, the most effective tool for preventing actual democracy in the United States, and that fact is why conservatives are so dedicated to preserving the power of the states."
Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but I was surprised that essay didn’t even mention how effective the concept of statehood is at literally preventing democracy for the 4 million citizens living in U.S. territories [cough cough, colonies], who have no federal representation. The whole idea of having to “petition for statehood” was nothing more than a way to prevent representation until there were enough white settlers in a territory, in addition to its role in perpetuating racist minority rule within the states.
posted by mubba at 3:06 PM on March 14, 2022 [27 favorites]
Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but I was surprised that essay didn’t even mention how effective the concept of statehood is at literally preventing democracy for the 4 million citizens living in U.S. territories [cough cough, colonies], who have no federal representation. The whole idea of having to “petition for statehood” was nothing more than a way to prevent representation until there were enough white settlers in a territory, in addition to its role in perpetuating racist minority rule within the states.
posted by mubba at 3:06 PM on March 14, 2022 [27 favorites]
Super gross. It really looks to be as simple as they lay it out: a couple bad ones sucked the town dry and they're recovering, yet it's only now that officials have decided to step in. Spot the difference in circumstances.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 3:35 PM on March 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 3:35 PM on March 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
I wonder how many degrees of separation there are between Mumpower and the white dudes who got caught embezzling from Mason. Cynic in me is betting it's less than six.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 3:38 PM on March 14, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 3:38 PM on March 14, 2022 [10 favorites]
Was the guy's name Big Daddy, Boss Hawg, or Boss Finley?
Mumpower, which is almost as cartoon-evil-guy as any of those. It's striking how often conservative swine have names that just sound comically evil. Trump is the easiest example, but you've also got Reince Priebus, Dick Cheney, Dick Armey(!), Stitt, DeWine, Mnuchin, McMaster, Santorum... a real bumper crop of silly villain names. It's like when fate was handing out names she said, "Well, at least I can give people a clue to help them see this fucker comin'..."
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:16 PM on March 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
Mumpower, which is almost as cartoon-evil-guy as any of those. It's striking how often conservative swine have names that just sound comically evil. Trump is the easiest example, but you've also got Reince Priebus, Dick Cheney, Dick Armey(!), Stitt, DeWine, Mnuchin, McMaster, Santorum... a real bumper crop of silly villain names. It's like when fate was handing out names she said, "Well, at least I can give people a clue to help them see this fucker comin'..."
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:16 PM on March 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
this particular flavor of paternalistic bullshit
Or maternalistic, since the guy's name is Mumpower.
posted by jeremy b at 4:17 PM on March 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
Or maternalistic, since the guy's name is Mumpower.
posted by jeremy b at 4:17 PM on March 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
They would be trying to screw a poor white community every bit as badly.
Not to pile on, but this is pretty much demonstrably not true. Not Tennessee, but in Michigan, the state enacted a law allowing the state to declare a city or township to be "failing." That would allow the state to appoint a manager to the city, subject to no democratic processes, and with the power to run the city's budget. This process is essentially how the Flint water crises happened. Dozens of cities across the state got overseers appointed. Not a single one of them was a majority white city, and several of the cities this did happen to were doing as well or better than nearby white cities and towns.
Are the poor exploited by the rich? Hell yes. Are the most egregious examples of exploitation and chicanery reserved for use on people of color? The entire history of the nation is a testament to that.
posted by Ghidorah at 6:32 PM on March 14, 2022 [26 favorites]
Not to pile on, but this is pretty much demonstrably not true. Not Tennessee, but in Michigan, the state enacted a law allowing the state to declare a city or township to be "failing." That would allow the state to appoint a manager to the city, subject to no democratic processes, and with the power to run the city's budget. This process is essentially how the Flint water crises happened. Dozens of cities across the state got overseers appointed. Not a single one of them was a majority white city, and several of the cities this did happen to were doing as well or better than nearby white cities and towns.
Are the poor exploited by the rich? Hell yes. Are the most egregious examples of exploitation and chicanery reserved for use on people of color? The entire history of the nation is a testament to that.
posted by Ghidorah at 6:32 PM on March 14, 2022 [26 favorites]
Well, as Gomer Pyle would say, “Surprise, surprise, surprise!”
posted by manageyourexpectations at 7:12 PM on March 14, 2022
posted by manageyourexpectations at 7:12 PM on March 14, 2022
abolish states
I'm seeing this pop up a lot recently and I'm not sure why or what it's about. With the electoral college in place I'm not sure I'm on board with this.
Yeah, state rights have been used as a bargaining point or weapon for things like taking away abortion rights or LGBTQ rights, but they've also been used for things like legalizing gay marriage or medicinal or recreational cannabis and other good things, and it seems to me that the incremental sea change that's happened with those things wouldn't have been possible without state rights.
I'm also not on board with handing the whole pie to Federalists. I mean I don't even want to imagine what would have happened with Trump in control of the executive branch and no states to push back against his kleptocratic nonsense.
Granted I basically want to abolish statism and nationalism entirely but at this point in my life I don't know how to do this without everything turning into a ancap libertarian hell hole.
posted by loquacious at 7:20 PM on March 14, 2022 [6 favorites]
I'm seeing this pop up a lot recently and I'm not sure why or what it's about. With the electoral college in place I'm not sure I'm on board with this.
Yeah, state rights have been used as a bargaining point or weapon for things like taking away abortion rights or LGBTQ rights, but they've also been used for things like legalizing gay marriage or medicinal or recreational cannabis and other good things, and it seems to me that the incremental sea change that's happened with those things wouldn't have been possible without state rights.
I'm also not on board with handing the whole pie to Federalists. I mean I don't even want to imagine what would have happened with Trump in control of the executive branch and no states to push back against his kleptocratic nonsense.
Granted I basically want to abolish statism and nationalism entirely but at this point in my life I don't know how to do this without everything turning into a ancap libertarian hell hole.
posted by loquacious at 7:20 PM on March 14, 2022 [6 favorites]
*slaps roof of current system*
this bad boy can fit so many ancap libertarian hell holes
posted by 7segment at 8:47 PM on March 14, 2022 [15 favorites]
this bad boy can fit so many ancap libertarian hell holes
posted by 7segment at 8:47 PM on March 14, 2022 [15 favorites]
>> They would be trying to screw a poor white community every bit as badly.
> Not to pile on, but this is pretty much demonstrably not true.
If I thought this was a government action I would agree with you, but the "they" I was referring to are the individuals lining up to profit from control of this town. There are going to be millions of dollars in development money flowing through there shortly, and one thing to be said for grifters is that they're fairly ecumenical in their approach.
That said, the method they're choosing to seize control obviously does carry some very racist roots and traditions. If it was a white town a different approach might be used to achieve the same end.
However, the idea that some money would get left on the table or even shared with the white hicks strikes me as over optimistic.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:05 PM on March 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
> Not to pile on, but this is pretty much demonstrably not true.
If I thought this was a government action I would agree with you, but the "they" I was referring to are the individuals lining up to profit from control of this town. There are going to be millions of dollars in development money flowing through there shortly, and one thing to be said for grifters is that they're fairly ecumenical in their approach.
That said, the method they're choosing to seize control obviously does carry some very racist roots and traditions. If it was a white town a different approach might be used to achieve the same end.
However, the idea that some money would get left on the table or even shared with the white hicks strikes me as over optimistic.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:05 PM on March 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
I don't even think such dynamics are going on here, I think the larger interests simply don't want to deal with black people, and to any degree that they would deal with a black-run town, they certainly don't want to deal with one that was recently completely ripped off by The Man. After all, they are also The Man (of the Tennessee The Mans)
And they aren't going to go "here's a little extra for the pot still, Cletus," but they are going to have their fees assessed and permits approved by a known quantity and not one that doesn't have as much reason to play ball, one that is currently pulling itself up by its bootstraps after the aforementioned thievery, thank you very much.
posted by rhizome at 9:46 PM on March 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
And they aren't going to go "here's a little extra for the pot still, Cletus," but they are going to have their fees assessed and permits approved by a known quantity and not one that doesn't have as much reason to play ball, one that is currently pulling itself up by its bootstraps after the aforementioned thievery, thank you very much.
posted by rhizome at 9:46 PM on March 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
Does Tennessee have state income tax yet? They didn't when I was just across the border in Virginia. They derive state income from the big business, around my area it was Eastman Kodak. You could tell where the county EK was in ended, same place the roads went back to shit. County level, they would do whatever to attract a big business that they could make income off of.
posted by zengargoyle at 12:14 AM on March 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by zengargoyle at 12:14 AM on March 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
“In my opinion, it’s time for Mason to relinquish its charter,” Comptroller Jason Mumpower wrote in a letter mailed to each one of Mason’s 1,337 property owners.
Dude is a walking man-shaped pile of garbage, but one does wonder if a small part of that is nominative determinism. When you're named like the villain in a Dickens novel, you're probably coached from an early age that your destiny is to grow a Snidely Whiplash mustache and hang out a shingle as a professional evil-doer.
posted by Mayor West at 5:35 AM on March 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Dude is a walking man-shaped pile of garbage, but one does wonder if a small part of that is nominative determinism. When you're named like the villain in a Dickens novel, you're probably coached from an early age that your destiny is to grow a Snidely Whiplash mustache and hang out a shingle as a professional evil-doer.
posted by Mayor West at 5:35 AM on March 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Mod note: One comment reverted above. Periodic general reminder to not use the edit window to substantially change your comment, including responding to things posted after you had commented. Just go ahead and leave a second comment if you need to add something.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:13 AM on March 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:13 AM on March 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
coached from an early age that your destiny is to grow a Snidely Whiplash mustache and hang out a shingle as a professional evil-doer
It's perfectly clear that the writers' aim is to get us all so completely ground down that they'll be able to have the Republicans field an actual candidate genuinely named Snidely Whiplash by his birth parents and get him elected.
But until then, hope is only mostly dead. And reviving it will make Humperdinck suffer, so there's that.
posted by flabdablet at 8:16 AM on March 15, 2022
It's perfectly clear that the writers' aim is to get us all so completely ground down that they'll be able to have the Republicans field an actual candidate genuinely named Snidely Whiplash by his birth parents and get him elected.
But until then, hope is only mostly dead. And reviving it will make Humperdinck suffer, so there's that.
posted by flabdablet at 8:16 AM on March 15, 2022
I kinda am expecting another twitter ban for commenting on his twitter.
posted by symbioid at 10:35 AM on March 15, 2022
posted by symbioid at 10:35 AM on March 15, 2022
One could probably do a study. One would need a means of classifying names into villainous/non-villainous in a reasonably objective fashion, independent of other data, (a neural network model similar to the one Janelle Shane used for determining whether a name is more metal or My Little Pony could possibly work), after which one can look for correlations between name-villainy scores and other values (expressed political/philosophical views, participation in pro/anti-social actions, psychological assessments, and so on).
posted by acb at 11:45 AM on March 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by acb at 11:45 AM on March 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:15 PM on March 17, 2022
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:15 PM on March 17, 2022
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“What are they holding onto?,” Mumpower said. “My heartfelt request is let us help you. A church is not a building — the community of Mason is not the city charter. It’s the people. There will still be the community of Mason.”
Nothing says "You should definitely be worrying about this" like a statement like that.
posted by CrystalDave at 11:28 AM on March 14, 2022 [75 favorites]