You know those stereotypes you hear about Mississippi? (Jackson, Gulfport: credit, houses)

[ColdAilment]

THEY ARE ALL TRUE!!!

I recently visited Holmes County Mississippi. I traveled through the towns of Durant ( 2,932) and Lexington (2,025), the two largest towns in Holmes County (19,198), and I must say it was a culture shock I was not prepared for.

I have spent the last 3 years of my life living in Lauderdale County Mississippi, which is located on the eastern edge of the state, bordering Alabama, and while Lauderdale County Mississippi is not particularly impressive, and marginally poorer than the rest of the United States, it is leagues ahead of the Delta region of Mississippi.

Lexington and Durant have been shrinking since the 1950's, both have lost nearly 50% of their population. Traveling through both towns there was little in them that was not an eye sore. The main streets through the towns showcases towns that have been in steady decline for decades, and have finally met the end of their days, taken over by decadence and abandonment. 43% of the population of Lexington lives below the poverty line. Holmes county also has the lowest life expectancy of ANY county in the entire United States.

Lexington has a long history before it, some of it was prosperous. I saw several old houses, mostly abandoned and in serious disrepair, that seemed to have been prominent homes in their time. The courthouse in Lexington is by far the best looking and best kept building in the whole town, and to people not familiar with the area, gives the wrong impression of the entire area.



Surrounding this beautiful courthouse preserved through time by some miracle, lays the remnants of a town that has missed its glory days by decades. Neighborhoods in serious decline with houses barely standing by the studs, trailer parks with personal landfills strewn about their lawns, abandoned store fronts that have not seen daylight for years, a complete lack of national or chain businesses. In my time in Lexington the only major businesses I noticed were a BP gas station, Advance Auto Parts, and a Subway, everything else was locally owned and looked like it had not been restored since the 1980's.

The images people conjure up in their mind when the name Mississippi comes to mind mostly relate to backwater policies, serious impoverishment, hillbilly accents, trailer parks, and a serious lack of industry or commercial business are ALL true when pertaining to the Mississippi Delta.

The one thing many people do not realize about Mississippi and the Mississippi Delta especially are the demographics. Mississippi is 60% white and 36% black, it has a higher proportion of blacks than any other state. The Delta is overwhelmingly black, Holmes County is 20% white and 79% black. Holmes county has a poverty rate of 52% for people under the age of 18, and 41% of the entire population.

Living in Mississippi for nigh on 3 years now, I thought I had seen poor and backwater, but visiting the Mississippi Delta is a completely different world. It's third world really. People live on scraps, never amount to anything, a job earning more than $20k per year means you are well off, it's unbelievable.

However, the Delta region does make up a large section of Mississippi, the rest of it is not that bad. Jackson, though poor, corrupt, and backwards compared with other cities, has nice areas and some extremely nice suburbs, including the city of Madison where the average family earns an income of over $110,000 per year.

Meridian:


Biloxi:




Jackson:





Oxford:



So not ALL of Mississippi is that bad, but the Delta is truly awful and lost. It will take decades of political action for ANYTHING to change or get better in the Mississippi Delta, that place has got to be the lowest, poorest, and most depressed area of the country by far.

[annie_himself]

Everyone knows this already.

[Alluvial]

Right. I have to wonder, what is the point of your post Cold? Do you really think people don't know that MS has a lot of black folks and a lot of serious poverty?

[Huckleberry3911948]

i love MS but vicksburg is all but gone. it was a bustling little town when i was a kid. gone gone gone.

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by Alluvial

Right. I have to wonder, what is the point of your post Cold? Do you really think people don't know that MS has a lot of black folks and a lot of serious poverty?

I wonder how thoroughly you read my post. I was highlighting the differences in Mississippi vs the Mississippi Delta region. The delta region really drags down the rest of the state. If you were to get rid of the delta region altogether I think the rest of the state would be better off and would get out of the bottom of many of these national rankings.

[zerhacke]

So your suggested solution is to take scissors and cut it off of the map, which should solve everything.

So what's that old stereotype about Mississippi being full of stupid people?

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by zerhacke

So your suggested solution is to take scissors and cut it off of the map, which should solve everything.

So what's that old stereotype about Mississippi being full of stupid people?

I never proposed a solution, did I? In the closing of my first post I said it will take decades of dedicated political action for anything in the delta to change. Firstly, the people there have to want change, and I'm not convinced any of them want that.

Sure, cutting off that portion of the state from the rest of the country would be nice. Trying to act like they don't exist, etc, but they ARE American citizens. It just floors me to see firsthand the kind of poverty that still exists in the deep south. I heard a white police officer in Lexington go over his radio and use the word "Negro". I thought that word was all but extinct, unless racists are in private social conversations, but over the radio?

The Delta lingers in the past, they can't get out of the 1960's mentality. Nothing has changed there in 50 years, besides most of the whites leaving.

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948

i love MS but vicksburg is all but gone. it was a bustling little town when i was a kid. gone gone gone.

Vicksburg is tragic. The city has continued to shrink and recently lost its only movie theater. The casino there attracts some people, as well as some undesirable elements that accompany casinos wherever they exist.

[Alluvial]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

I wonder how thoroughly you read my post. I was highlighting the differences in Mississippi vs the Mississippi Delta region.

Perhaps I was thrown off by your title and opening remark. It would have been clearer if you had started off with "Differences in Mississippi vs the Mississippi Delta region". And if you had picked some towns in the Delta to start talking about. Holmes County is not in the Delta.

The delta region really drags down the rest of the state. If you were to get rid of the delta region altogether I think the rest of the state would be better off and would get out of the bottom of many of these national rankings.

That may be true, but getting rid of the Delta is not possible. A better alternative would be for the rest of the state to stop dragging it along like a broken leg, acknowledge that it *is* a part of the state, and act accordingly to revitalize the region.

[zerhacke]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

I never proposed a solution, did I? In the closing of my first post I said it will take decades of dedicated political action for anything in the delta to change. Firstly, the people there have to want change, and I'm not convinced any of them want that.

Sure, cutting off that portion of the state from the rest of the country would be nice. Trying to act like they don't exist, etc, but they ARE American citizens. etc

Ok, complaining about how bad it is but offering no solution whatsoever even after the issue of a solution to the problem being explicitly brought up makes you nothing better than the area you are slinging mud about not wanting to change what's going on with them.

Your second paragraph is a great example of a mangled thought caused by a sentence fragment. It is meaningless.

You're really batting a big old 0.000 with your decision to mock the people of the Delta here. Kind of makes you look like a jerk.