Mississippi Challenge

this is an essay I wrote for my sociology class in college . I think that this is one of my best essays ever written

The Mississippi Challenge

“Equality is the soul of liberty; there is, in fact, no liberty without it “(Wright 1828). In the non-fiction novel Mississippi Challenge written by Mildred Pitts Walter, the southern state of Mississippi had to learn this the hard way. This book tells about the struggle of African- Americans and their struggle for freedom and equality in Mississippi from the tie of Slavery to the late 1960’s. This state has seen the ugly face of injustice and ignorance engulfed in the wrath of violence. However, this violence was attacked with pain, heartache, and death in the form of nonviolence by the reluctant African-American population.

The idea of social Interaction throughout this book is negative and in some cases mentioned in the book deadly. Social Interaction is defined as “what people do when they are in one another’s presence.” (Henslin 2012) In chapter three the most noted social interaction between black and white people occurred during slavery. At this time blacks were seen as property rather than people who deserved equality. “The treatment of slaves in Mississippi was so cruelly harsh…” (Walter p.17) This is an example of how they interacted with one another during the time of slavery. During this time instead of being treated as employers, where they would be given fair and equal pay or be given proper human rights, they were treated as less than human. They were seen as a valuable piece of property similar to the value of cotton. They were treated almost like animals. In some cases there were many slaves on a plantation, this meant that living space was inhumane. Overseers especially hated blacks. Overseers were the white people that monitored the slaves every movement. These slaves worked a terrible hours, “can’t to can’t” (Walter p.19), meaning they worked from in the morning when they couldn’t see to the darkness of night when vision was not possible. Social Interaction does not get better, only worse. “With the rise of the Democratic party, riots, and killings, had been taking place, making Mississippi a law-less, corrupted state.” (Walter p.53) It seemed as though violence and destruction was always the reasonable answer when ever these two groups of people interacted. Blacks were simply in search of something that they desperately wanted and morally deserved, freedom.

“The United States of America, is the GREATEST country in the history of the world” ( Walter p.115). This statement of pure irony is supposed to be the idea that people think about when they think about the United States. However, the state of Mississippi, as addressed in this book proves otherwise. The United States has a bad history of contradicting its values. Value contradictions are values that contradict each other. (Henslin 2012) The U.S values freedom. They value the freedom to speak, freedom to write, freedom to vote etc. However, the concept of slavery especially in Mississippi contradicts this idea. “The population of slaves grew rapidly in the southern states�"Mississippi with the most.” (Walter p. 14-15)  A slave is defined as somebody forced to work for another, a dominated person, or someone accepting another’s rule. Now, if freedom means the ability to act freely does this not mean that the United States is a huge contradiction? Freedom is not the only contradiction there is also the concept of democracy. Democracy is the free and equal representation of people. The United is built upon a democratic government where the government thrives on the voice of the people. However, in Mississippi not every voice was allowed to be heard. African- Americans were denied the right to vote for centuries. Just after the war, “Mississippi’s ruling class had resolutely decided that African-American’s would not have citizenship in their state (Walter p. 39-40) This contributed to the idea of allowing African- Americans the right to vote. Many people who opposed the very ideas of allowing blacks to vote such as the Ku Klux Klan engaged in obscene and biligerent activities that prevented many Blacks from even thinking about voting. The next value that the United States contradicted several times in history was the value of Equality. Equality is the state of being equal. In Mississippi, again, this idea was diminished. After slavery African- American’s statuses were moved slightly above slavery. “1896, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Plessey versus Ferguson, that ‘separate but equal’ public facilities for blacks and whites were within the law” (Walter p.58) The idea of separate but equal seemed reasonable except things were NOT equal. While white children attended schools that were of health standards, black children attended schools in churches and lodge rooms. Sometimes, black children did not attend school because of the fear of their families losing their homes and or jobs.

Next, there were certain norms attached to living in Mississippi and many parts of the south as addressed in the text. Norms are the expectation of the “right behavior” (Henslin 2012). Black codes and Jim Crow Laws were associated with the norms of Mississippi. Black codes were first brought up during the time of slavery. These codes consisted of  slaves could not own land or property, they could not strike a white person even if it is self defense, they could not leave the plantation without permission, any enslaved person caught out of bounds could be brought back forcefully by any white person, slaves could not blow horns or beat drums (talk to each other). (Walter p.18) Although this devastating period  ended, the black codes still lingered. “Negroes or mulattoes, on terms of equality or living in adultery shall be deemed vagrants and shall be fined.” (Walter p.42). Jim Crow laws were then put in place as a message of separate but equal. They were put in place as a way to intimidate blacks.

Mores were also in place in Mississippi. A more is a norm that is strictly enforced because they are thought essential to core values or the well-being of the group. In the case of the book the well-being lies within the assumption of the white citizens. Communication, at the time of slavery was a big more for whites. Fear of the slaves brought this particular more on. They did not want them to start an uprising.  “Without verbal  communications, many felt hopeless.” (Walter p.19)  This more was strictly enforced by the original ‘Black Codes’.  Another more, was the idea of letting black vote. Voting was assumed to be allowing Blacks to have a certain amount of power that they did not deserve according to the southern Whites.

Positive and Negative Sanctions  were highly associated with Mississippi. A positive sanction is a reward or positive reaction for following norms. A positive sanction for blacks was the ratification of two amendments, the  13^thand 14^th amendments.  “On January 1, 1864, president Lincoln declared the slaves free” (Walter p.26). This quote is associated with the 13^th Amendment. After the Civil War, this bill was not far behind of being passed. Now the 14^th amendment, which granted African-Americans the right to vote had its ups and downs. In Mississippi, they accepted this amendment at discretion. Many negative sanctions were in place by the White population. A negative sanction is an expression of disapproval for breaking a norm. The negative sanctions were the worst. “the White Knights, intimidated, tarred and feathered, and lynched black people who sought to buy property, to maintain the land that they owned, and especially, to vote.” ( Walter p.50)  This demonstrates the horribly negative sanctions that the black population would receive if they exercise their newly adopted rights.

In and Out groups were also coordinated with Mississippi and the southern states. In groups are groups toward one feels loyalty. (Henslin 2012)  A solid example of this is the white people who were strongly associated with the Ku Klux Klan. They considered themselves the dominating group of people. They exercised the concept of ethnocentrism, or the use of one’s own culture as a yard stick for judging the ways of other cultures. They targeted black people because they felt a sense of intimidation from them. Now the out- groups or the group people that they antagonized would be the blacks as well.

The color black is always equated with failure and fear is the mother of hatred. As a minority that experienced serious and permanent psychological and sociological damage within the state of Mississippi. Not saying that Mississippi is a horrible place to live in today, but back in the days when people who different from the majority were targeted for being different. It is clear that Mississippi is not a great place to live. This book has taught me a lot about this state and its history. As an African-American woman and with a few of my ancestors born and raised in this state it is hard to imagine what endeavors they had to go through to get to where they are today.

 

References

Henslin, James M.  (2012). Sociology: A down to Earth Approach Core Concepts. Fifth Edition

Walter, M. P (1992). Mississippi Challenge

Wright, F. (1828). The 19 best Quotes on Equality. Retrieved April 28 2012. Website: