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Where was that pic taken? *Shivers.* This is such a long thread I already know what most of it is going to say so I am not going to bother reading it. There is A LOT I could say on this subject but I won't...so basically I'm just passing through, lol. That pic of the alligators scares me though and the nerve of that sign!
Mainstream Media has its own alternate reality, which exists to serve the Orwellian/Marxist objectives of the Frankfurt School. The MSM's Alternate Mississippi Reality is an exceptionally extreme departure from the reality one experiences in the Real World.
You seem, however, to have sifted quite well through media lies and distortions, and to have assembled a very good laundry list of questions.
Yes. There is a lot of poverty. Yes, obesity is rampant in Mississippi. Yes, education (even in private schools, sometimes) is far behind education in most states. Lots of swamps, although the Corps of Engineers seems intent upon draining them, just to have something to do (I heard they're currently lowering the water table in the Delta, which is killing the Pecan Orchards...lovely...).
Race relations, however, are far better than Big Media and Big Government want them to be. Big Media and Big Government continually try to stir up trouble. But Mississippians continue to refuse to hate each other with sufficient intensity to satisfy the powers that be. Blacks and whites have been coexisting in Mississippi for two solid centuries. Most whites there are descended from "indentured servants" (white slaves purchased with the intent of working them to death before their 'terms of servitude' were over). So, most people in the state, regardless of race, are descendants of slaves. That's some pretty solid common ground.
Prior to World War Two, Mississippians of both primary races were, for the most part, desperately poor. Just about EVERYBODY lived in sharecroppers' shacks. Just about EVERYBODY dressed their children in burlap bags (real flour sacks, made from actual cloth, were luxuries). Just about everybody had Pin Worms from going barefoot. Malnutrition was rampant. The Robber Barons on America's Upper East Coast, following the Civil War, had raped the state, economically. This was not too different from the farm crises and financial panics widespread across America during that era - except that in Mississippi, things were so much more severe. If I remember correctly, on one single day during the Depression, one third of the land in Mississippi was sold at auction (foreclosed.... seized for nonpayment of taxes...). Most everybody, both black and white, barely survived that era. Blacks and whites helped each other survive, and emerged from that solid century of hellish poverty as one nation. Mississippi is a nation surrounded by America.
There is a collective trauma in the history of Mississippi, which exists almost as a hidden force. Broken down, it is the trauma of the African Slave Trade, added to the trauma of the traffic in white slaves of the British Empire, and the horrific chapter in that empire's history known as The Highland Clearances. Fear and loathing of the Norse/Norman/Roman overlords is ingrained in the common culture of Mississippi. Oddly cryptic modes of communication in Mississippi are baffling to outsiders, and probably have their origins in the slave's inability to speak ill of his masters. Innuendo, body language, sayings with variable meanings... Mississippians have a way of communicating which is basically impenetrable to outsiders.
We Indians have watched the others (those among our people who failed to categorize the newcomers, and to distinguish between 'the good kinds' and 'the bad kinds'... well... those Indians fared badly), and see things others do not see. I have noticed racism directed against the ones with the delicate long limbs/short torsos/almond-shaped heads/dark hair, by the ones with the blondish hair/long torsos/short, thick limbs/broad faces. In the unspoken way that Celtic people seem to understand things, the second group seems to recognize the first group as the racial subgroup of its former masters and racial enemies. The persecution is subtle: school bullying, gossip, ridicule, exclusion - that sort of thing. But it's there.
And there is the black-white antagonism hoped for by Media and Government: just not as much of it as one would expect.
The weather is pretty horrible, five months of the year. If you step off a small private plane, you'll feel like you're walking into either a steam room or a sauna... depending on humidity, and on whether or not there is direct sunlight. And there are maybe two months' worth of days when it is cool enough to really dress up. Being an Indian from the Southern Tribes, and having had a 'Real Daddy' who was a Sicilian, I'm comfortable in Mississippi's heat. My Husband, on the other hand, being a Cajun with heavy descent from Eastern Canada's First Nations, cannot take the heat at all. He was miserable, sweating in his unlined tropical-weight suits and whisper-thin Sulka shirts, eleven months of the year, when we lived in Mississippi. He learned to wear ultra-short loafer socks, and loafers... and to kick off his shoes under conference tables... just to shed body heat.
Big men in the Deep South learn what kinds of floors are the coldest. I heard DH and another bodybuilder debating the merits of various floors. Concrete and granite keep you cooler, longer. Naps on marble and alabaster floors, though, are not as cooling. Marble takes on your body heat too quickly. Staying cool, for most people in the deep, deep South, can become an obsession. I know a Mississippi/Louisiana family of giant Swedes, who refuse to get in the car without sufficient ice on hand to cool them down in an emergency. Part of their morning routine is to load coolers with ice packs. They've learned the hard way... Summer heat down there can cause severe health issues, and even death. I leave my Husband at home, when I fly down to check on things. He's so much happier in Oregon.
Roses that grow in 'normal' places turn into gaunt skeletons in Mississippi. To grow roses there, you have to memorize the kinds that will grow. "Polyantha Noisette likes her AncientTea in a China cup." Those are the four primary races of roses that can be grown down there. Our best friends followed us up here to Oregon. The Wife was thrilled to finally grow Old Garden Roses (Portlands, Albas, Gallicas...). My taste is not so pure: I ripped out the tennis court, and put in all the trashy Floribundas and Teas I'd never been able to grow in Mississippi. ... and all the other things, like Delphiniums and Astilbe, that it's just too hot in Mississippi to grow well.
Those friends are headed back to Madison (new acquisitions in the region). She is all weepy about the restrictions the climate makes inherent in planning the new rose garden. "Well, I can try my luck with the new Hybrid Bracteatas, and the fresh-out-of-quarantine Australian Hybrid Giganteas, and the wider spectrum of Banksias now available.... but my heart's not in it. What allure do the various Moschatas have, when I'm having to leave behind my Spinosissimas and Rugosas?"
After a kvetch like that one, I know exactly what you're thinking. And so now is the moment to bring up the huge dichotomy in Mississippi:
On one hand, you have people who think men aren't attractive until they have "a little belly on 'em", and who think being a good mother entails making sure your kids are so obese nobody will want them (thereby assuring they'll always need their Momma's luuuuuuv). On the other hand, you have room after room, at gym after gym, filled with perfect female bodies in perfect outfits, doing aerobics, then spinning.... or yoga, or gossiping with gals like me, in the Cardio Theatres in gyms conveniently dotted throughout every town of any size. The Aerobics Set don't eat even one bite at funeral spreads Being Dead Is No Excuse: The Official Southern Ladies Guide To Hosting the Perfect Funeral: Gayden Metcalfe, Charlotte Hays: 9781401359348: Amazon.com: Books, while the others glare at them.
You have people who have never fried anything in their lives. They tend to be a pound or two underweight. On the other side of the great dichotomy, are people to whom 'cooking' and 'frying' are synonyms. If they've ever heard of steaming foods, they think it's one of those things weird unsaved people do in far-off countries.
On one hand, you have people who listen to whatever lowest-common-denominator-pop drivel is played on the radio. On the other hand, you have people whose devices are playing Baroque concerti and German Techno.
You have a great many people who have never even tried an illicit drug or smoked a cigarette. On the other hand, there are people who are proud to have smoked while pregnant, and who don't count 'MJ' as 'doing drugs'.
Sizeable swaths of every town are characterized by intensively-landscaped homes, filled with better furnishings than you'll see in comparable neighborhoods anywhere else in America. Scalamandre, Brunschwig & Fils, Zuber et Cie,.... silk brocades, silk passementerie, cut velvet as wall covering... draperies costing several thousand Dollars per window... redundant sets of china and crystal... On the other hand, you have people who cut down every living thing in the yard, put up a chain-link fence for the Pitt Bulls, paint the trim in orangey browns, buy prints of howling wolves at WalMart, and stick plug-in air fresheners in every toxic room.
Mississippi's dichotomy is far more sharply drawn than in most states. Winners vs Losers; Flabby vs Fit; Affluent vs Poor; Smart vs Dumb; Righteous vs Damned; Those who can reliably afford air conditioning vs Those who have window units and can't afford to fix the air in their cars: in Mississippi, one chooses (or is assigned by Fate and genetics) to walk in darkness, or to walk in the light.
There are two Mississippis, and each of those is subdivided. One learns to live in one's own bubble.
Great post.
Over a decade ago, I was stationed at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS for a few months before heading to my first duty station. Being young, dumb and African-American I rarely left the base, letting all of the negative stereotypes of the south and hearsay convince me that I was in no man's land. The older, more mature me would take advantage of living in a different part of our nation and explore for myself to see what Mississippi is all about. One thing I do remember very well, the heat. Running for miles and miles in what felt like a blowdryer being held in front of your face was a moment I'll never forget.
What's so bad about Mississippi... without reading every post I'll give you my take on it. I lived right near Holly Springs for nearly 10 years.
1- racism on both sides. Steeped so strong no one even notices any more. I was at a meeting of "ALL Baptist churches in Marshall County". It was noticeably pale in there. "Are there no black Baptist churches in Marshall County?" I asked innocently. A look of disapproval crossed THE PASTOR'S WIFE'S FACE "Oh no", she said sternly "They have their own. They don't worship like we do." Plus if you're white every white person in the world thinks you feel the same way you do about anyone who isn't white so they use all kinds of racial slurs as if it's perfectly fine. I hate that.
2- Muggy hot - 110 heat index at midnight with no breeze cuz north MS is landlocked pretty much. Frickin' hot. My horses hated it.
3- mosquitoes but also snakes
4- sink holes - people get lost in those
5- low ratings in all the things you mentioned - you answered your own question
6- oh, every person on my street was either on disability or they were seeking disability. A way of life. Great standards to instill upon your kids!
7- drunks running through my fence at least a half dozen times and I was on a dead end road with only a few houses. They only fixed my fence if I caught them.
8- people who think it's okay to buy underage kids beer and cigs. They're there in droves.
9- kids having kids
I appreciate the chance to vent. I've been gone a couple years and I think I must have bottled that all up!
Don't believe the media hype. My family have recently relocated to Mississippi from Indiana and I love it. Every state has it's up side and down side. The only difference between Mississippi and any other state is the culture. The media can make the sweetest smelling rose stink. I know that Mississippi intelligence level have went up about 25% since I brought my wife here.
Don't believe the media hype. My family have recently relocated to Mississippi from Indiana and I love it. Every state has it's up side and down side. The only difference between Mississippi and any other state is the culture. The media can make the sweetest smelling rose stink. I know that Mississippi intelligence level have went up about 25% since I brought my wife here.
Funny to no end...really I was wondering about how Mississippi is like as I am considering an internship in Biloxi for next year!
Biloxi is vastly different from the rest of Mississippi for several reasons.
1. It's on the gulf coast. Any coastal area will be more akin to mainstream America.
2. It's a big tourist destination. After Las Vegas and Atlantic City, Biloxi has the next most casinos of any city in the country. 9 in Biloxi and 2 in Gulfport right next door.
3. Beaches. There is a lot of beach front property, condos, and timeshares people have in the Biloxi-Gulfport area, this means it's a place a lot of people prefer to live.
4. It barely feels like Mississippi there, it's more similar to the Florida panhandle, southern, but not deep south southern.
5. You're close to a lot of other desirable cities. Gulfport is right next door, Mobile isn't but 40 miles, New Orleans is only 50 miles, Pensacola is about 60 miles, Panama City is about 100 miles.
Biloxi is a nice city if you don't mind it being dominated by casinos on the beach front area.
Alligators!!! My husband and I love reptiles. I've never seen anything like that. Look at them! Not kidding. What a photo! What a sense of humor!! Ready or not—Here we Come! Two crazy, soon to be former, Californians.
Well I live on the coast right near the Slipper, constantly have a drunk in my ditch for starters! Mostly locals, knocks out my power because they will run right into the light pole! It's crazy around here, I live close to Bay Side Park, in Bay St. Louis, MS, and recently I got robbed, everyone that moves to the PARK gets robbed, the property is so cheap and outsiders will buy a brand new house for 57 k or less and think they are getting a good deal because it is in the "flood zone" but it is a lie, yes they might be in a flood zone, (insurance will cover that) but you will get robbed, I give it three months before you do! People steal your water pumps, copper out your walls, and everything you own, even your kids diapers...This is not a JOKE or a LIE, its the god's honest truth. I got robbed broad day light, they are ruthless, they want all you got! ITs a simple as that! After the storm, it has been nothing but junkies, there is no jobs around here, and if you see someone working around here its most likely a drug addict. I hate to get food at the local mc donalds, pizza hut, BURGER KING (that place would have to be the worse down here). I have nothing good to say, even the community college that is offered here, PRCC, is horrid people out to get students on fafsa they just want money. Its a horrible place to live. You send your kid to school, NEVER BEEN SICK A DAY IN THEIR LIFE and sure enough you will be battling impetigo more than ONCE. THey say once the child see's a doctor the next day they can go back to school, imagine that! I am sorry to say what you hear, people are not wasting their time telling you this, its a terrible place to call home! People who helped me out recently said to move far away, dont come back there is nothing here! So, yes, I am not wasting my time if I can encourage you to look else where! THE BEACHES BY THE WAY, jeez I don't even know where to start all a beach is that you can not see the sand in is a polluted pool of nasty-ness! I don't even want to go there. Good luck in your seach!
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