Is it safe for African Americans to visit the area of Tunica?? Please Respond... (Marion: high crime, felony)

[Dd714]

Thanks aiangel. Morgan Freeman should know better, he is from northern mississippi and has lived through all the changes from the last 50 and 60 years.

Old images die hard, mostly thanks to the media feeding off of anachronisms and stereotypes. Nevermind the center of the white supremecist movement has been in the northwest (Idaho, etc) for the last few decades.

[Robert_J]

Actually, you would be in Robinsonville, MS where the casinos are. The city of Tunica is about 10 miles south on highway 61. All of this is in the county of Tunica. Geography lesson is over.

My wife and I go to Tunica all of the time. Mostly to eat but sometimes to gamble and spend the night. In fact, we went to Paula Deen's Buffet at Harrah's Casino last weekend. I saw whites, blacks, Asians, Latinos and even my first Indian couple there. Ages ranged from kids to the elderly. Everyone was having a great time it seemed. Everyone at the Casino treated the guests like family.

-Robert

[maxjake10]

Only problem that you might have is being robbed. mugged, or your car broken into. Tunica is in the delta and the majority of the population is black just like Memphis. Look at the crime statistics of Memphis and you will answer your own question.

[Dd714]

Originally Posted by maxjake10

Only problem that you might have is being robbed. mugged, or your car broken into. Tunica is in the delta and the majority of the population is black just like Memphis. Look at the crime statistics of Memphis and you will answer your own question.

Crime is indeed a problem with Memphis, but I think Tunica is far enough away from Memphis not to be effected.
One factor (race) should not be a correlating factor with the other (crime), as you suggest. Memphis has problems inherent to Memphis (bad local government, inadequate schooling, drugs, etc). The problems of Memphis are not the problems of Tunica, in fact I find nothing similiar when comparing the hard urban landscape of Memphis to the rural small town Delta feel of Tunica. They could very well be on different planets.

[Tama]

Originally Posted by aiangel_writer

The documentary ( Prom Night in Mississippi) was one that followed the senior class of Charleston and how they were having two proms, one all white that was a private affair paid for by private funds and the regular prom. Morgan Freeman makes several appearances in it talking about the racism in and around Charleston. There is a couple who is black/white and parents are interviewed.

I decided to watch it the other night just to find out what it was about and honestly, I came away disgusted. I live here in MS and have NEVER seen what these people are talking about. If what they say is true, then it must be contained close to the Delta. Sigh.

Just another nail in the coffin for the image of a state that has bent over backwards trying to overcome her past.

Sorry to hear this. I don't get HBO but I read about the show and got the impression it was supposed to be a positive turn of events as the town of Charleston and the school went from a divided prom to a combined one. Is that not true? I thought surely Morgan Freeman would be aware of all the progress.

[princessbeiter]

Originally Posted by aiangel_writer

The documentary ( Prom Night in Mississippi) was one that followed the senior class of Charleston and how they were having two proms, one all white that was a private affair paid for by private funds and the regular prom....

I moved back home to Mississippi in 1992. As late as 1993, the city high school was still having two separate proms. I'm not sure why they did it like that. I do know the next year they had only one prom for all students.

[aiangel_writer]

I do believe the year they made the documentary was supposed to be the first year they had only one prom, but some families didn't like it and paid for their kids to go to a white only prom. They tried to pressure the kids to go to the white one only but many went to both. So, it is not the kids, it's the parents that were the trouble makers. sigh.

[poptones]

Look, I'm a white middle age dude with short greying hair and a goatee and there are plenty of places around here where I don't go to hang out cuz I don't feel comfortable - the barber shop around the corner (where other white dudes with short grey hair hang out); the high school - most any of the churches. Why? Cuz the people who hang out in these places generally don't share enough of my values or beliefs to provide common ground for us to get to know one another better.

People are going to hang out with others of similar beliefs and values. Sometimes it comes down to race, but less and less so. How is having "two proms" (where no one is specifically barred from attending) any worse than having SCHOOLS segregated by religion and color?

People often read way to much into this. I don't go to rap clubs cuz I don't like rap - I also don't go to country bars. At MS state campus the "Society of Black Engineers" used to hang out quite a lot at one particular hall entrance. Is that a black thing or a black engineer thing? It wasn't just an engineer thing - but what would happen if we had a "White Engineer's Society?" And they all hung around one campus hall? Would folks consider that a klan rally and try to squash it?

It's not just white folks pulling the segregationist strings. And Morgan Freeman seems like a truly nice dude I'd love to meet and talk politics with, but at times he seems to be just as much a part of that old school of division as the Rev Al or Fox News.

[Ga mountain girl]

Kudo's to you Poptones. I have begun wondering such things myself.

[aiangel_writer]

well, from what I got from the documentary, blacks were not welcome at the private 'all white' prom. HOw do you figure that both proms were open to all? If that were the case, why have two proms?