WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.680 Welcome to the Deep Dive, where we take the complexity 00:00:02.680 --> 00:00:05.080 of source material, the history, the economics, 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:08.199 the hard data, and try to extract the essential, 00:00:08.339 --> 00:00:11.480 fascinating insights you need to understand the 00:00:11.480 --> 00:00:14.539 world. And today, we are really undertaking a 00:00:14.539 --> 00:00:17.260 massive mission. We are. We're diving into the 00:00:17.260 --> 00:00:20.760 stunning contradictions of Mississippi. It truly 00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:23.679 is a state defined by these stark contrasts. 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:26.059 I mean, you look at the stack of sources we have. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:28.420 And on one hand, Mississippi proudly positions 00:00:28.420 --> 00:00:31.859 itself as the magnolia state, you know, the birthplace 00:00:31.859 --> 00:00:34.619 of America's music. Right. A really rich cultural 00:00:34.619 --> 00:00:37.340 identity. A very rich one. And yet simultaneously, 00:00:37.719 --> 00:00:40.700 it consistently ranks 50th dead last in the nation 00:00:40.700 --> 00:00:43.140 for health care quality. And on top of that, 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:45.679 holds the lowest per capita income. That gap 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:48.200 is just enormous, and that's really the heart 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:50.740 of our mission today. It is. Absolutely. We have 00:00:50.740 --> 00:00:54.619 dense historical accounts, recent economic analyses, 00:00:54.759 --> 00:00:57.759 political breakdowns, and health reports. Our 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:00.539 mission is to unpack all this material, to trace 00:01:00.539 --> 00:01:03.799 the line, to understand precisely how Mississippi's 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:07.219 rich, complex, and, let's be honest, often painful 00:01:07.219 --> 00:01:09.599 history directly informs its present -day economy, 00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:11.799 its deep health challenges. And this is maybe 00:01:11.799 --> 00:01:13.500 the biggest surprise in the whole thing. It really 00:01:13.500 --> 00:01:17.079 is. recent dramatic educational successes. We 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:18.900 want to give you a thorough understanding of 00:01:18.900 --> 00:01:21.879 this crucial Deep South state. And just to set 00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:24.180 the table, the basic geography and demographics 00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:27.060 are the starting point. Mississippi is the 32nd 00:01:27.060 --> 00:01:31.280 largest state by area and the 35th most populous. 00:01:31.540 --> 00:01:33.599 Jackson is the capital and largest city. And 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:36.420 the state motto is Virtute et Armis. Which means 00:01:36.420 --> 00:01:39.079 by valor and arms, a motto that, as we'll see, 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:41.140 really reflects a long and very conflicted history. 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:43.379 And before we jump into the physical land itself, 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:45.280 let's start with a quick nugget about the name. 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:47.540 It's derived from the mighty Mississippi River, 00:01:47.659 --> 00:01:49.599 which of course forms its entire western border. 00:01:49.719 --> 00:01:52.079 Right. European -American settlers named it after 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:55.260 the Ojibwe phrase Missisibi. Which just means 00:01:55.260 --> 00:01:58.359 great river. Great river. A great river whose 00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:01.879 floods and power really dictated the state's 00:02:01.879 --> 00:02:04.549 earliest destiny. So let's start there with those 00:02:04.549 --> 00:02:07.870 geographic foundations and natural forces. That 00:02:07.870 --> 00:02:10.710 river isn't just a border. It is, in a very real 00:02:10.710 --> 00:02:13.250 sense, the fundamental architect of Mississippi's 00:02:13.250 --> 00:02:16.530 physical existence. The state is almost entirely 00:02:16.530 --> 00:02:19.129 within the Gulf Coastal Plain. Which means it's 00:02:19.129 --> 00:02:21.669 fundamentally low -lying. Incredibly low -lying. 00:02:21.729 --> 00:02:24.430 The mean elevation is barely 300 feet above sea 00:02:24.430 --> 00:02:27.050 level. It's flat. And when we talk about low 00:02:27.050 --> 00:02:29.650 elevation we're talking about massive contrasts 00:02:29.650 --> 00:02:32.349 within that. The highest point, Woodall Mountain, 00:02:32.629 --> 00:02:35.750 is only 807 feet. Which is more of a hill, really. 00:02:35.810 --> 00:02:37.949 It's barely a mountain. And the lowest point 00:02:37.949 --> 00:02:40.389 is, of course, the Gulf of Mexico at zero feet. 00:02:40.629 --> 00:02:43.729 This low -lying nature is so key because it simultaneously 00:02:43.729 --> 00:02:46.830 created this unimaginable agricultural wealth 00:02:46.830 --> 00:02:49.669 and also baked in a constant devastating vulnerability. 00:02:50.229 --> 00:02:52.689 Exactly. And to understand that wealth, we have 00:02:52.689 --> 00:02:55.030 to focus on the Mississippi Delta region, this 00:02:55.030 --> 00:02:57.930 flat, unbelievably fertile area in the Northwest. 00:02:58.289 --> 00:03:01.370 So this is geographically part of the vast Mississippi 00:03:01.370 --> 00:03:04.610 Alluvial Plain. What makes it so historically 00:03:04.610 --> 00:03:07.250 crucial is the soil composition, right? It's 00:03:07.250 --> 00:03:09.550 not just dirt. You have to think of it as a living 00:03:09.550 --> 00:03:12.969 geological feature. Right. This land was formed 00:03:12.969 --> 00:03:16.210 over millennia by the regular massive flooding 00:03:16.210 --> 00:03:18.530 of the Mississippi River. And every time it flooded, 00:03:18.629 --> 00:03:22.990 it deposited this incredibly rich, deep, silt 00:03:22.990 --> 00:03:25.870 -laden soil across the floodplain. So the floods 00:03:25.870 --> 00:03:28.389 were both destructive and creative. Paradoxically, 00:03:28.389 --> 00:03:31.240 yes. This bottomland was perfect for demanding 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:34.139 high -yield crops. The regular and sometimes 00:03:34.139 --> 00:03:36.639 catastrophic floods were the engine that made 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:39.620 the plantation economy possible. Without that 00:03:39.620 --> 00:03:42.099 alluvial plain, cotton is king. It just doesn't 00:03:42.099 --> 00:03:44.300 happen the way it did. But the subtropical climate 00:03:44.300 --> 00:03:46.659 that supports that agriculture also brings, well, 00:03:46.740 --> 00:03:49.479 environmental catastrophe. The climate is humid 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:51.979 subtropical. You get these mild winters, but 00:03:51.979 --> 00:03:54.580 then you have long, hot, and just overwhelmingly 00:03:54.580 --> 00:03:57.819 humid summers. It's a heavy heat. It is. But 00:03:57.819 --> 00:04:00.240 the geographic position near the Gulf Coast and 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:02.960 the vast flat plain make the state highly susceptible 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:05.699 to severe weather. And we're talking about tornadoes 00:04:05.699 --> 00:04:08.979 here, primarily. Yes. Mississippi averages about 00:04:08.979 --> 00:04:12.370 27 tornadoes annually. And the historical record 00:04:12.370 --> 00:04:15.729 is just tragic. Our sources confirm that two 00:04:15.729 --> 00:04:18.649 of the five deadliest tornadoes in U .S. history 00:04:18.649 --> 00:04:20.769 happened within the state. The first being the 00:04:20.769 --> 00:04:23.709 Great Natchez Tornado of 1840. Which killed over 00:04:23.709 --> 00:04:25.970 300 people, most of them on flatboats on the 00:04:25.970 --> 00:04:29.139 river itself. It was just a horrifying event. 00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:31.560 And then you have the Tupelo -Gainesville outbreak 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:35.360 of 1936. This is a state that understands nature's 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:37.800 immediate catastrophic power. And then there 00:04:37.800 --> 00:04:40.060 is the threat from the Gulf. It's episodic, but 00:04:40.060 --> 00:04:42.199 it's absolutely devastating when it hits. We 00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:44.220 have two modern examples that really stand out 00:04:44.220 --> 00:04:46.379 in the sources. Hurricane Camille and Hurricane 00:04:46.379 --> 00:04:48.240 Katrina. Let's start with Camille. Hurricane 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:51.079 Camille in 1969 hit the coast as a Category 5 00:04:51.079 --> 00:04:53.680 storm. The storm surge was estimated to be somewhere 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:56.769 between 15 and 20 feet. It caused immense destruction. 00:04:57.050 --> 00:04:59.089 It fundamentally reshaped the Gulf Coast. It 00:04:59.089 --> 00:05:01.790 did, and it led to the deaths of 248 people in 00:05:01.790 --> 00:05:04.230 Mississippi alone. It was the benchmark for disaster 00:05:04.230 --> 00:05:08.089 for a generation. And then the even greater catastrophe 00:05:08.089 --> 00:05:11.470 of Katrina in 2005. Katrina was a Category 3 00:05:11.470 --> 00:05:14.310 at its final landfall in Mississippi. But because 00:05:14.310 --> 00:05:17.470 of its sheer size, it generated this unprecedented 00:05:17.470 --> 00:05:20.850 storm surge that swept 90 miles of coastline 00:05:20.850 --> 00:05:24.339 clean. Just gone. Gone. We're talking about massive, 00:05:24.420 --> 00:05:27.139 nearly total destruction in cities like Gulfport, 00:05:27.240 --> 00:05:30.699 Biloxi and Pascagoula. In Mississippi, 238 people 00:05:30.699 --> 00:05:33.360 died and the estimated cost was in the tens of 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:35.740 billions. The state had to fundamentally rely 00:05:35.740 --> 00:05:39.120 on federal intervention to rebuild. So if that's 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:41.180 the historical pattern, what do the sources tell 00:05:41.180 --> 00:05:43.579 us about the long term threat? The one driven 00:05:43.579 --> 00:05:46.079 by climate change. What does this low -lying 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:49.000 subtropical state face in the next 50 years? 00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:52.360 The data is, it's pretty alarming. An EPA report 00:05:52.360 --> 00:05:54.920 specifically singles out Mississippi, along with 00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:57.319 other Deep South states, as one of the areas 00:05:57.319 --> 00:05:59.319 projected to experience the worst effects of 00:05:59.319 --> 00:06:00.740 climate change in the United States. And this 00:06:00.740 --> 00:06:02.920 directly impacts the foundation of the state's 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:05.459 economy agriculture. Right. And it's a devastating 00:06:05.459 --> 00:06:09.180 paradox, isn't it? It is. How so? Well, the EPA 00:06:09.180 --> 00:06:11.759 predicts increased severity of both floods and 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:14.920 droughts. For a state that relies on its alluvial 00:06:14.920 --> 00:06:18.079 soil for production, this dual -threat unpredictable 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:21.660 dryness followed by devastating saturation is 00:06:21.660 --> 00:06:24.579 going to drastically reduce crop yields and stress 00:06:24.579 --> 00:06:27.339 the already vulnerable agricultural sector. And 00:06:27.339 --> 00:06:29.540 just living there is going to get harder. Yes, 00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:32.060 the overall temperatures will warm, making those 00:06:32.060 --> 00:06:34.519 already hot and humid summers more dangerous 00:06:34.519 --> 00:06:37.459 for outdoor workers. And for the coast, the threat 00:06:37.459 --> 00:06:39.639 of sea level rise isn't abstract. It's immediate. 00:06:39.939 --> 00:06:42.439 It is. The sources show sea level is already 00:06:42.439 --> 00:06:45.259 rising about one inch every seven years. Given 00:06:45.259 --> 00:06:47.639 the flat topography, this is a profound threat. 00:06:47.899 --> 00:06:51.220 A small increase in sea level vastly expands 00:06:51.220 --> 00:06:54.300 the area that's vulnerable to storm surge during 00:06:54.300 --> 00:06:57.000 even moderate tropical storms. So the very foundation 00:06:57.000 --> 00:06:59.379 that created the state's historic... wealth is 00:06:59.379 --> 00:07:01.980 now the source of its greatest long -term vulnerability. 00:07:02.379 --> 00:07:04.199 That's the core tension right there. Okay, so 00:07:04.199 --> 00:07:06.060 let's unpack the human history, because the roots 00:07:06.060 --> 00:07:08.439 of the modern paradox are right here. We have 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:10.519 to start well before the Europeans ever arrived. 00:07:10.779 --> 00:07:13.339 We begin with the Paleo -Indians, dating back 00:07:13.339 --> 00:07:17.839 to 9500 BC. And over time, these hunter -gatherer 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:21.259 societies evolved into these very complex successor 00:07:21.259 --> 00:07:24.199 cultures. We're talking the woodland and ultimately 00:07:24.199 --> 00:07:26.420 the Mississippian eras. Right, beginning around 00:07:26.420 --> 00:07:30.420 950 AD. And these were the so -called mound builder 00:07:30.420 --> 00:07:33.779 cultures. And what stands out about their societal 00:07:33.779 --> 00:07:36.740 organization? I mean, these weren't simple, isolated 00:07:36.740 --> 00:07:39.279 groups. Not at all. They were highly sophisticated. 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:43.399 They built these massive, often ceremonial earthworks, 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:45.959 and they maintained extensive trading networks 00:07:45.959 --> 00:07:48.439 that connected communities from the Great Lakes 00:07:48.439 --> 00:07:50.600 all the way down to the Gulf Coast. They were 00:07:50.600 --> 00:07:53.540 trading things like copper shells. Specific raw 00:07:53.540 --> 00:07:56.420 materials over vast distances. These cultures 00:07:56.420 --> 00:07:58.639 were the direct ancestors of the historic Native 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:00.839 American tribes we recognize today. And those 00:08:00.839 --> 00:08:03.040 descendants include the major nations of the 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:05.540 area, like the Chickasaw and the Choctaw, and 00:08:05.540 --> 00:08:07.740 then smaller groups like the Natchez, the Yazoo, 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:10.279 and the Biloxi. Then came the European chapter. 00:08:10.759 --> 00:08:13.779 While Hernando de Soto's Spanish expedition passed 00:08:13.779 --> 00:08:16.379 through in 1540, permanent European settlement 00:08:16.379 --> 00:08:19.709 was a French endeavor. Starting in 1699 with 00:08:19.709 --> 00:08:22.350 the establishment of Fort Maurepas, or Old Biloxi, 00:08:22.389 --> 00:08:25.050 on the Gulf Coast. Exactly. They later founded 00:08:25.050 --> 00:08:28.709 Natchez, further upriver, in 1716. And it was 00:08:28.709 --> 00:08:31.050 under French and then Spanish rule that a really 00:08:31.050 --> 00:08:33.350 unique societal layer developed, especially in 00:08:33.350 --> 00:08:35.929 Natchez and along the Gulf. Yes. We are talking 00:08:35.929 --> 00:08:38.809 about the Jeanne de Couze Libre, or Free People 00:08:38.809 --> 00:08:41.820 of Color. The sources show these were often mixed 00:08:41.820 --> 00:08:44.519 race descendants, usually the children of European 00:08:44.519 --> 00:08:47.919 men and enslaved or free African women. And unlike 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:50.379 later American Antebellum Society, this group 00:08:50.379 --> 00:08:54.120 held a really distinct, acknowledged social capital. 00:08:54.340 --> 00:08:56.620 They weren't just free individuals. They often 00:08:56.620 --> 00:08:59.039 became the educated professional class artisans, 00:08:59.179 --> 00:09:01.639 merchants, property owners, and sometimes even 00:09:01.639 --> 00:09:04.620 slave owners themselves. They occupied a status 00:09:04.620 --> 00:09:06.679 that was designed to buffer the rigid social 00:09:06.679 --> 00:09:09.110 structure between the European elite. and the 00:09:09.110 --> 00:09:11.429 enslaved majority. But that demographic setup 00:09:11.429 --> 00:09:13.870 was, well, it was unsustainable once the territory 00:09:13.870 --> 00:09:15.850 was acquired by the United States. Completely. 00:09:15.970 --> 00:09:18.330 That led to a massive influx of European -American 00:09:18.330 --> 00:09:20.669 migrants, primarily from older southern states 00:09:20.669 --> 00:09:23.129 where decades of tobacco farming had just exhausted 00:09:23.129 --> 00:09:25.570 the soil. And these migrants were incredibly 00:09:25.570 --> 00:09:28.769 eager to exploit the rich Delta land. And their 00:09:28.769 --> 00:09:31.830 arrival immediately put immense aggressive pressure 00:09:31.830 --> 00:09:34.129 on the federal government to expel the Native 00:09:34.129 --> 00:09:36.659 American tribes. Which culminates in one of the 00:09:36.659 --> 00:09:39.080 darkest moments of American history, the Treaty 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:42.960 of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830. This resulted 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:44.980 in the forced removal of the Choctaw people, 00:09:45.080 --> 00:09:47.799 a part of what became known as the Trail of Tears. 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:51.220 It was a brutal displacement to lands west of 00:09:51.220 --> 00:09:53.399 the Mississippi River. But the sources highlight 00:09:53.399 --> 00:09:56.559 a critical, nuanced detail in that removal process, 00:09:56.860 --> 00:09:59.639 Article 14 of the Trudy. Right. Article 14 was 00:09:59.639 --> 00:10:02.379 essentially a mechanism of state coercion. It 00:10:02.379 --> 00:10:04.600 stated that those Choctaw who chose to remain 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:07.100 in Mississippi and become U .S. citizens had 00:10:07.100 --> 00:10:09.159 to give up their tribal membership and accept 00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:12.129 individual land allotments. A divisive and incredibly 00:10:12.129 --> 00:10:15.309 painful choice. A terrible choice. The descendants 00:10:15.309 --> 00:10:17.409 of those who chose to remain are the contemporary 00:10:17.409 --> 00:10:20.169 Mississippi band of Choctaw Indians who retained 00:10:20.169 --> 00:10:22.169 a small land base in the central part of the 00:10:22.169 --> 00:10:24.669 state, distinct from the majority who were forced 00:10:24.669 --> 00:10:28.049 west. If that history sets the stage, the next 00:10:28.049 --> 00:10:30.690 era is where the paradox of Mississippi's present 00:10:30.690 --> 00:10:34.129 day is truly forged. The rise of cotton and the 00:10:34.129 --> 00:10:37.929 immense wealth built on slavery. By the 1850s, 00:10:37.929 --> 00:10:40.710 the planters. particularly those who had moved 00:10:40.710 --> 00:10:42.889 into the newly cleared and unbelievably fertile 00:10:42.889 --> 00:10:46.070 delta regions, became extraordinarily wealthy. 00:10:46.250 --> 00:10:48.809 They were profiting from a deadly trifecta. That's 00:10:48.809 --> 00:10:50.570 a good way to put it. You had the most fertile 00:10:50.570 --> 00:10:53.149 land in the world, extremely high global cotton 00:10:53.149 --> 00:10:55.789 prices driven by the textile industry, and of 00:10:55.789 --> 00:10:57.950 course the zero -cost labor of hundreds of thousands 00:10:57.950 --> 00:11:00.429 of enslaved African Americans. Let's put numbers 00:11:00.429 --> 00:11:02.330 to that exploitation because it really defines 00:11:02.330 --> 00:11:04.509 the state's identity. The demographic reality 00:11:04.509 --> 00:11:07.610 of 1860 is shocking. Out of a total population 00:11:07.610 --> 00:11:12.950 of approximately 790 ,000, 55%, that's 436 ,631 00:11:12.950 --> 00:11:15.269 people were enslaved. So it was a majority slave 00:11:15.269 --> 00:11:17.889 state. It wasn't just a state with slaves. It 00:11:17.889 --> 00:11:20.289 was fundamentally a massive successful slave 00:11:20.289 --> 00:11:23.009 labor camp. It was the undisputed top cotton 00:11:23.009 --> 00:11:26.110 producing state in the entire nation. And connecting 00:11:26.110 --> 00:11:29.490 this back to the core mission, that slave derived 00:11:29.490 --> 00:11:33.320 wealth was so immense that pre -Civil War, Mississippi 00:11:33.320 --> 00:11:36.080 was ranked as the fifth wealthiest state nationally 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:38.759 on a per capita basis. That is the ghost that 00:11:38.759 --> 00:11:41.460 still haunts the state's economy. The elite's 00:11:41.460 --> 00:11:43.779 reluctance to invest that immense capital into 00:11:43.779 --> 00:11:46.820 public infrastructure like railroads or widespread 00:11:46.820 --> 00:11:49.620 public education. They invested it in land and 00:11:49.620 --> 00:11:52.120 human property. Purely. And that was a short 00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:54.340 -sighted decision that starved the state of fundamental 00:11:54.340 --> 00:11:57.600 growth mechanisms for the next 150 years. It 00:11:57.600 --> 00:11:59.600 leads directly to his modern poverty rankings. 00:12:00.169 --> 00:12:02.450 The stage for conflict was set, and Mississippi 00:12:02.450 --> 00:12:04.929 was quick to act, becoming the second state to 00:12:04.929 --> 00:12:07.029 declare its secession from the Union on January 00:12:07.029 --> 00:12:10.769 9, 1861. The Civil War was existential for Mississippi 00:12:10.769 --> 00:12:12.929 because of the strategic importance of the river. 00:12:13.110 --> 00:12:16.429 The Union objective was crystal clear, gain control 00:12:16.429 --> 00:12:18.909 of the Mississippi River to split the Confederacy 00:12:18.909 --> 00:12:21.750 in two. Which made the Siege of Vicksburg a lengthy, 00:12:21.870 --> 00:12:25.049 pivotal campaign absolutely essential. Its fall 00:12:25.049 --> 00:12:27.909 in July 1863 was a turning point in the entire 00:12:27.909 --> 00:12:30.299 war. And it's fascinating that even in a state 00:12:30.299 --> 00:12:33.679 so dedicated to secession, there were these internal 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:36.879 unionist pockets. Yes. The most famous example 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:39.659 is the so -called Free State of Jones, where 00:12:39.659 --> 00:12:42.740 a man named Newton Knight led a band of pro -union 00:12:42.740 --> 00:12:45.519 deserters and anti -Confederate neighbors. So 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:47.919 it shows that Mississippi was never a monolith. 00:12:47.940 --> 00:12:50.720 Never. Not even during the peak of the conflict, 00:12:50.940 --> 00:12:53.259 there were significant class and ideological 00:12:53.259 --> 00:12:56.460 splits, particularly among poor white farmers 00:12:56.460 --> 00:12:59.360 who did not own slaves and resented the planter 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:02.600 elite. The post -war Reconstruction era, however, 00:13:02.820 --> 00:13:05.700 brought a truly revolutionary moment, especially 00:13:05.700 --> 00:13:09.120 with the 1868 Constitutional Convention. This 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:11.799 was a brief, brilliant window of radical change. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:14.039 For the first time, black and white delegates 00:13:14.039 --> 00:13:16.820 worked together. And the convention adopted sweeping 00:13:16.820 --> 00:13:19.179 reforms designed to build a functioning modern 00:13:19.179 --> 00:13:21.960 democracy. They did. They ratified the 14th Amendment. 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:24.879 They adopted universal male suffrage. They removed 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:27.120 property qualifications for voting or holding 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:29.940 office, which was a huge win for poor whites 00:13:29.940 --> 00:13:32.980 alongside freedmen. And crucially, they established 00:13:32.980 --> 00:13:35.460 the state's first comprehensive public school 00:13:35.460 --> 00:13:38.200 system. Mandated for all children, regardless 00:13:38.200 --> 00:13:41.360 of race. A truly radical idea for its time and 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:43.970 place. But the sources show that Window was violently 00:13:43.970 --> 00:13:46.950 slammed shut by the Democratic backlash. We need 00:13:46.950 --> 00:13:49.809 to detail this mechanism of suppression. It was 00:13:49.809 --> 00:13:52.169 known as the Mississippi Plan. The Mississippi 00:13:52.169 --> 00:13:55.429 Plan was initiated around 1875 by white Democrats 00:13:55.429 --> 00:13:59.870 seeking to reclaim political control and to reestablish 00:13:59.870 --> 00:14:01.789 white supremacy. It was an organized campaign 00:14:01.789 --> 00:14:04.110 of intimidation and violence. And it involved 00:14:04.110 --> 00:14:06.970 these paramilitary groups. Most notoriously, 00:14:07.110 --> 00:14:09.570 the Red Shirts, who operated in what they called 00:14:09.570 --> 00:14:12.259 white line campaigns. How extensive was this 00:14:12.259 --> 00:14:14.799 violence? I mean, was it sporadic or was it organized? 00:14:15.100 --> 00:14:17.500 It was systematic and lethal. Our sources detailed 00:14:17.500 --> 00:14:20.200 the Vicksburg and Clinton massacres of 1874 and 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:23.460 1875, where armed groups suppressed black voting 00:14:23.460 --> 00:14:25.879 and killed at least 150 black citizens. So this 00:14:25.879 --> 00:14:28.419 was terrorism. It was political terrorism. The 00:14:28.419 --> 00:14:30.460 violence and intimidation were so severe that 00:14:30.460 --> 00:14:32.860 it suppressed Republican turnout and forced elected 00:14:32.860 --> 00:14:35.120 black officials out of office, effectively ending 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:38.000 the biracial government by the end of 1875. And 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:40.340 this political violence then culminates in the 00:14:40.340 --> 00:14:44.080 institutionalized legal disenfranchisement that's 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:47.059 codified in the 1890 Constitution. This Constitution 00:14:47.059 --> 00:14:50.080 was openly and brutally explicit in its aims. 00:14:50.379 --> 00:14:53.100 Democratic Governor James K. Vardaman famously 00:14:53.100 --> 00:14:55.799 stated its purpose was to eliminate the nigger 00:14:55.799 --> 00:14:58.350 from politics. Just saying it out loud. Right. 00:14:58.629 --> 00:15:01.830 But the genius, in a cynical sense, of the 1890 00:15:01.830 --> 00:15:05.490 Constitution was its mechanism of disenfranchisement. 00:15:05.730 --> 00:15:08.610 It didn't mention race explicitly, which theoretically 00:15:08.610 --> 00:15:10.830 made it pass federal scrutiny at the time. So 00:15:10.830 --> 00:15:13.190 what were those specific mechanisms? We need 00:15:13.190 --> 00:15:15.389 to know the how. There were three main barriers. 00:15:15.889 --> 00:15:19.169 First, the imposition of a poll tax, which disproportionately 00:15:19.169 --> 00:15:21.470 burdened poor citizens, both black and white. 00:15:21.590 --> 00:15:24.740 Second, literacy tests. Right. And third, and 00:15:24.740 --> 00:15:26.519 this is the most pernicious, the understanding 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:29.340 clause. This provision required a voter to be 00:15:29.340 --> 00:15:31.440 able to read any section of the state constitution 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:33.720 or demonstrate a reasonable understanding of 00:15:33.720 --> 00:15:35.600 it when it was read to them. That sounds reasonable 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:37.759 on paper, but the reality was far different. 00:15:37.980 --> 00:15:41.460 It was entirely arbitrary. White registrars were 00:15:41.460 --> 00:15:44.419 granted total, unchallengeable power to decide 00:15:44.419 --> 00:15:47.259 who demonstrated understanding. So if you were 00:15:47.259 --> 00:15:49.340 black... You were often given the most obscure, 00:15:49.559 --> 00:15:52.799 archaic or complex passages to interpret. If 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:55.179 you were a white farmer who couldn't read, you 00:15:55.179 --> 00:15:56.919 might be asked to explain what a ballot was. 00:15:57.259 --> 00:15:59.559 And the effect was immediate. It immediately 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:02.440 removed about 100 ,000 black men and notably 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:05.340 50 ,000 core white men from the voter rolls. 00:16:05.580 --> 00:16:08.240 It established a single party democratic state 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:10.600 that would last for nearly a century. Let's pick 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:13.399 it back to economics for a moment, because amidst 00:16:13.399 --> 00:16:15.480 this political suppression, there was a fleeting 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:17.639 moment of immense economic achievement among 00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:20.000 African -Americans, especially in the Delta. 00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:22.379 This is one of the great short -lived triumphs 00:16:22.379 --> 00:16:25.129 of the post -war era. The Delta was still largely 00:16:25.129 --> 00:16:27.730 frontier land and freedmen and white migrants 00:16:27.730 --> 00:16:30.470 poured in clearing timber and working incredibly 00:16:30.470 --> 00:16:33.549 hard to buy property. And by 1900, the sources 00:16:33.549 --> 00:16:36.070 show an astonishing number. Two thirds of the 00:16:36.070 --> 00:16:38.049 farm owners in the Mississippi Delta were African 00:16:38.049 --> 00:16:40.070 -American. Yeah. It was a massive statement of 00:16:40.070 --> 00:16:42.610 independence and economic success. But economic 00:16:42.610 --> 00:16:45.549 forces and the structure of debt traps quickly 00:16:45.549 --> 00:16:48.549 crushed that success. Unfortunately, falling 00:16:48.549 --> 00:16:51.309 global cotton prices in the early 20th century 00:16:51.309 --> 00:16:54.009 were devastating, coupled with the lack of access 00:16:54.009 --> 00:16:57.149 to credit, the institutionalized disenfranchisement 00:16:57.149 --> 00:17:00.269 and the rise of debt peonage systems like sharecropping. 00:17:00.389 --> 00:17:02.289 They just couldn't hold on. Most black farmers 00:17:02.289 --> 00:17:04.730 couldn't weather the economic storms. They lost 00:17:04.730 --> 00:17:06.710 their land and were rapidly pushed back into 00:17:06.710 --> 00:17:09.289 landless labor and poverty by the 1920s. And 00:17:09.289 --> 00:17:11.730 that complete lack of political rights. Combined 00:17:11.730 --> 00:17:14.089 with economic debt traps and violence fueled 00:17:14.089 --> 00:17:16.809 the single largest demographic shift in the state's 00:17:16.809 --> 00:17:19.569 history. The Great Migration. Exactly. Starting 00:17:19.569 --> 00:17:23.069 around 1913 and continuing through 1970, nearly 00:17:23.069 --> 00:17:26.150 half a million people, the vast majority African 00:17:26.150 --> 00:17:28.569 -American, left Mississippi. They were seeking 00:17:28.569 --> 00:17:31.829 not just jobs, but escape. Escape from a violent, 00:17:31.890 --> 00:17:34.630 oppressive system where the ability to vote. 00:17:35.180 --> 00:17:37.640 to educate their children, to simply live without 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:40.440 fear was impossible. And the impact on the state's 00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:42.539 demographics was immediate and transformative. 00:17:42.940 --> 00:17:45.460 It was. Mississippi had been a majority black 00:17:45.460 --> 00:17:48.680 state since before the Civil War. But due to 00:17:48.680 --> 00:17:51.460 this massive exodus, the African -American population 00:17:51.460 --> 00:17:54.599 became a minority population in the state after 00:17:54.599 --> 00:17:58.140 the 1930s. This flight, driven by lack of opportunity, 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:00.859 fundamentally redefined the state's identity 00:18:00.859 --> 00:18:03.759 and its labor pool for the rest of the 20th century. 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:06.059 It's an incredible irony, isn't it, that the 00:18:06.059 --> 00:18:08.200 intense conditions of oppression and poverty 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:10.720 we just discussed gave rise to some of the most 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:13.380 influential and foundational American art forms. 00:18:13.539 --> 00:18:16.299 It is. Let's talk about that cultural legacy, 00:18:16.460 --> 00:18:19.109 starting with music. Mississippi is not just 00:18:19.109 --> 00:18:22.009 a birthplace. It is the undisputed birthplace 00:18:22.009 --> 00:18:25.529 of the blues. This music emerged directly from 00:18:25.529 --> 00:18:28.250 the harsh reality of the Delta, the sharecropping 00:18:28.250 --> 00:18:30.529 system, the isolation, the backbreaking labor. 00:18:30.670 --> 00:18:32.289 The songs provided a voice to the voiceless. 00:18:32.549 --> 00:18:34.890 They did. They give structure and poetry to the 00:18:34.890 --> 00:18:36.809 experience of oppression. But the sources also 00:18:36.809 --> 00:18:39.230 compel us to look past simple racial categories 00:18:39.230 --> 00:18:42.410 and see the cross -pollination that really created 00:18:42.410 --> 00:18:45.089 American music. That's where it gets truly interesting. 00:18:45.369 --> 00:18:48.390 You see figures like Jimmy Rogers. who is widely 00:18:48.390 --> 00:18:51.910 celebrated as the father of country music. Rogers 00:18:51.910 --> 00:18:55.069 was white, but he learned from and played with 00:18:55.069 --> 00:18:58.609 local black blues musicians. So he was absorbing 00:18:58.609 --> 00:19:01.539 their rhythms and structures. Completely. He 00:19:01.539 --> 00:19:03.880 was friends with blues legends like Chester Arthur 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:06.440 Burnett, who you'd know as Howlin' Wolf. So this 00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:08.859 wasn't segregation. This was cultural fusion 00:19:08.859 --> 00:19:11.640 happening despite the intense social segregation. 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:15.619 Exactly. It was the fusion of black musical traditions 00:19:15.619 --> 00:19:18.099 with the Scots, Irish folk and hymn traditions 00:19:18.099 --> 00:19:20.680 that permeated the white southern communities. 00:19:20.940 --> 00:19:23.759 And this blend created the basis for country, 00:19:23.980 --> 00:19:27.019 jazz, modern blues and eventually. The ultimate 00:19:27.019 --> 00:19:30.079 symbol of this crossover. Tupelo native Elvis 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:33.200 Presley, who brought those Delta sounds to a 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:36.279 massive global multiracial audience, becoming 00:19:36.279 --> 00:19:38.299 the king of rock and roll. For listeners who 00:19:38.299 --> 00:19:40.220 want to dive into that history physically, the 00:19:40.220 --> 00:19:42.539 Mississippi Blues Trail marks over 200 sites 00:19:42.539 --> 00:19:45.400 dedicated to this legacy, including key locations 00:19:45.400 --> 00:19:48.000 like the Riverside Hotel in Clarksdale. Right. 00:19:48.380 --> 00:19:51.319 And pivoting from culture to faith, religion 00:19:51.319 --> 00:19:54.180 remains perhaps the single most defining social 00:19:54.180 --> 00:19:57.380 force in Mississippi today. It is consistently 00:19:57.380 --> 00:19:59.980 ranked the most religious state in the U .S. 00:20:00.019 --> 00:20:02.200 And the statistics really bear that out. Our 00:20:02.200 --> 00:20:04.720 sources show that 59 percent of Mississippians 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:08.640 consider themselves very religious. And 63 percent 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:11.779 report attending church weekly or almost weekly. 00:20:11.940 --> 00:20:14.720 That's the highest rate nationally. It is. The 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:17.940 population is overwhelmingly Christian. at 84 00:20:17.940 --> 00:20:20.619 % predominantly Protestant, with the Southern 00:20:20.619 --> 00:20:23.339 Baptist Convention being the largest single denomination. 00:20:23.500 --> 00:20:25.940 And this deep religious foundation has profoundly 00:20:25.940 --> 00:20:28.700 shaped the political and social landscape. For 00:20:28.700 --> 00:20:31.130 sure. Sources point out that the massive growth 00:20:31.130 --> 00:20:32.990 of fundamentalist conservative churches since 00:20:32.990 --> 00:20:35.990 the 1970s has directly fueled the conservative 00:20:35.990 --> 00:20:38.710 political trends among white residents. But historically, 00:20:39.049 --> 00:20:41.390 particularly for African Americans, the church 00:20:41.390 --> 00:20:43.990 was the engine of liberation. Precisely. During 00:20:43.990 --> 00:20:45.809 the Civil Rights Movement, black churches were 00:20:45.809 --> 00:20:48.210 absolutely pivotal. They were the only autonomous 00:20:48.210 --> 00:20:50.529 institutions black residents possessed. So there 00:20:50.529 --> 00:20:52.309 were communication networks, meeting places. 00:20:52.650 --> 00:20:55.769 Shelters. And most importantly, the organizational 00:20:55.769 --> 00:20:59.059 hub. for activism and voter registration campaigns 00:20:59.059 --> 00:21:03.019 against immense organized resistance. And that 00:21:03.019 --> 00:21:05.640 resistance was not just sporadic violence. It 00:21:05.640 --> 00:21:08.380 was officially organized and tax supported by 00:21:08.380 --> 00:21:10.579 the state itself. That's a critical piece of 00:21:10.579 --> 00:21:13.720 context. Yeah. In 1954, the Mississippi State 00:21:13.720 --> 00:21:16.500 Sovereignty Commission was created. It was funded 00:21:16.500 --> 00:21:19.079 by state taxes claiming to work for state unity. 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:21.500 But its real purpose was something else entirely. 00:21:21.960 --> 00:21:23.940 Its real purpose was to operate as a domestic 00:21:23.940 --> 00:21:27.359 spy agency. It surveilled thousands of Mississippians 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:29.740 collecting intelligence on anyone suspected of 00:21:29.740 --> 00:21:32.160 civil rights activities and use that information 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:34.940 to assist local white citizens councils. What 00:21:34.940 --> 00:21:36.759 kind of assistance are we talking about? Well, 00:21:36.819 --> 00:21:39.160 they provided funding, organizational support 00:21:39.160 --> 00:21:42.140 and crucial intelligence used for economic blackmail. 00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:44.380 So, for instance, if a black person tried to 00:21:44.380 --> 00:21:46.779 register to vote, the commission might tip off 00:21:46.779 --> 00:21:48.819 a local citizens council. And they would then 00:21:48.819 --> 00:21:51.980 pressure local banks to deny them loans or fire 00:21:51.980 --> 00:21:54.700 them from jobs or cut off their supplies. Exactly. 00:21:54.799 --> 00:21:57.119 This was a system designed to suppress activism 00:21:57.119 --> 00:22:00.000 through economic starvation. The brutal climax 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:03.599 of this era was the 1964 Freedom Summer campaign, 00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:06.200 where students poured into the state to register 00:22:06.200 --> 00:22:08.579 voters and set up freedom schools. And Freedom 00:22:08.579 --> 00:22:11.000 Summer was met with intense state -sanctioned 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:13.880 violence and chaos. The most famous tragedy, 00:22:13.960 --> 00:22:16.039 of course, was the murder of civil rights workers 00:22:16.039 --> 00:22:19.519 James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:22.200 near Philadelphia, Mississippi. That specific 00:22:22.200 --> 00:22:24.799 act of violence, along with countless others, 00:22:25.019 --> 00:22:27.599 was broadcast nationally. And it became a crucial 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:29.640 catalyst for the federal government to finally 00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:33.119 pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which began 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:37.220 the slow, painful process of undoing the disenfranchisement 00:22:37.220 --> 00:22:40.299 of 1890. Now, if we shift from that painful history 00:22:40.299 --> 00:22:43.019 to the modern social landscape, there's a demographic 00:22:43.019 --> 00:22:45.180 detail that really challenges the monolithic 00:22:45.180 --> 00:22:47.640 view of the Deep South. It's one of those moments 00:22:47.640 --> 00:22:49.779 where the sources force you to recognize the 00:22:49.779 --> 00:22:52.200 complexity of modern identity in the state. Because 00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:54.359 historically, Mississippi has been characterized 00:22:54.359 --> 00:22:57.359 by deeply conservative social politics rooted 00:22:57.359 --> 00:23:00.059 in its dominant religious culture. Right. But 00:23:00.059 --> 00:23:01.940 when we look at family structure, Mississippi 00:23:01.940 --> 00:23:04.880 actually leads the nation in one specific non 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:07.859 -traditional metric. Which is? The state has 00:23:07.859 --> 00:23:10.339 the highest proportion of same -sex couples raising 00:23:10.339 --> 00:23:14.079 children in the U .S., hovering around 33%, according 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:16.500 to recent studies. That is surprising. It is. 00:23:16.579 --> 00:23:19.519 It suggests a quieter, more resilient, and perhaps 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:22.960 more family -oriented LGBT community than the 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:26.259 national narrative often allows for. Furthermore, 00:23:26.500 --> 00:23:28.900 Jackson ranks 10th in the nation for the concentration 00:23:28.900 --> 00:23:31.769 of African -American same -sex couples. So it 00:23:31.769 --> 00:23:34.529 points to a diverse urban reality that's often 00:23:34.529 --> 00:23:36.710 obscured by the rural, socially conservative 00:23:36.710 --> 00:23:39.309 politics. Exactly. Let's return to the economic 00:23:39.309 --> 00:23:41.329 facts because they really define the state's 00:23:41.329 --> 00:23:43.730 current status. We started by noting the tension. 00:23:44.390 --> 00:23:47.269 Lowest per capita income, yet high in charitable 00:23:47.269 --> 00:23:50.410 contributions. This structural poverty is deeply 00:23:50.410 --> 00:23:52.930 managed and often masked by external financial 00:23:52.930 --> 00:23:55.349 factors. And the largest factor there is federal 00:23:55.349 --> 00:23:58.579 spending. Mississippi's economy is heavily subsidized. 00:23:58.660 --> 00:24:00.619 So the state consistently receives one of the 00:24:00.619 --> 00:24:03.319 highest ratios of federal spending to taxes received 00:24:03.319 --> 00:24:07.099 in the entire nation. It does. In 2005, for example, 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:09.579 largely due to Hurricane Katrina recovery funds, 00:24:09.740 --> 00:24:12.920 the state received 2 .02 cents for every dollar 00:24:12.920 --> 00:24:15.960 paid in taxes. That ranks second highest nationally. 00:24:16.269 --> 00:24:18.529 But that subsidy isn't just disaster relief, 00:24:18.650 --> 00:24:20.809 though. It's consistent. It is. A significant 00:24:20.809 --> 00:24:23.109 portion comes from large federal installations, 00:24:23.250 --> 00:24:25.710 like Camp Shelby and Keesler Air Force Base, 00:24:25.849 --> 00:24:28.769 which employ thousands of residents, alongside 00:24:28.769 --> 00:24:31.230 federal highway funding and health care expenditures. 00:24:31.819 --> 00:24:34.500 Without this federal transfer, the state's economic 00:24:34.500 --> 00:24:37.200 standing will be far, far worse. In terms of 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:40.200 actual output, agriculture is still vital. Indeed, 00:24:40.460 --> 00:24:43.019 it has specialized. Mississippi is the top producer 00:24:43.019 --> 00:24:45.480 of farm -raised catfish nationally, a multimillion 00:24:45.480 --> 00:24:47.700 -dollar industry, and it's also a major producer 00:24:47.700 --> 00:24:50.579 of sweet potatoes, cotton, and pilot. But speaking 00:24:50.579 --> 00:24:53.400 of struggles, let's pivot to how the state chooses 00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:55.579 to raise its own revenue, because this is a point 00:24:55.579 --> 00:24:58.099 that really demands scrutiny. The sources reveal 00:24:58.099 --> 00:25:00.599 a very uncomfortable statistic about taxation. 00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:03.140 Yes. We are talking about the retail sales tax 00:25:03.140 --> 00:25:05.859 on groceries. Okay. Mississippi levies a 7 % 00:25:05.859 --> 00:25:08.480 retail sales tax on groceries, which is the highest 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:10.720 grocery tax in the entire United States. Wait. 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:13.940 So in the poorest state in the country, the sources 00:25:13.940 --> 00:25:16.359 show they hit residents with the highest consumption 00:25:16.359 --> 00:25:20.890 tax on a necessity on food. How? How does that 00:25:20.890 --> 00:25:23.230 make sense? That is the critical question. The 00:25:23.230 --> 00:25:25.309 political rationale is that the state relies 00:25:25.309 --> 00:25:28.269 heavily on consumption taxes to fund government 00:25:28.269 --> 00:25:30.890 services because of its low overall tax base 00:25:30.890 --> 00:25:33.210 and low property values. But the economic impact 00:25:33.210 --> 00:25:36.900 is clear. A 7 % tax on food is highly regressive. 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:39.500 It places a disproportionately heavy burden on 00:25:39.500 --> 00:25:42.059 lower income families who already spend a larger 00:25:42.059 --> 00:25:44.440 percentage of their earnings on basic necessities. 00:25:44.759 --> 00:25:48.440 The policy choice directly exacerbates the poverty 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:50.539 it is attempting to manage. That reliance on 00:25:50.539 --> 00:25:52.460 consumption is why the introduction of entertainment 00:25:52.460 --> 00:25:55.420 revenue was so economically transformative. The 00:25:55.420 --> 00:25:58.279 1990 decision to legalize casino gambling was 00:25:58.279 --> 00:26:00.740 a massive economic pivot. It was a complete game 00:26:00.740 --> 00:26:03.529 changer. Legalized gambling along the Mississippi 00:26:03.529 --> 00:26:05.829 River Tunica became the massive center of this, 00:26:05.930 --> 00:26:08.750 and the Gulf Coast, like Gulfport and Biloxi, 00:26:08.769 --> 00:26:11.269 rapidly became major economic drivers. Before 00:26:11.269 --> 00:26:13.410 Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi was actually the 00:26:13.410 --> 00:26:15.910 second largest gambling state in the U .S. Trailing 00:26:15.910 --> 00:26:18.329 only Nevada. That's how big it was. And when 00:26:18.329 --> 00:26:20.990 Katrina destroyed the coastal infrastructure... 00:26:21.369 --> 00:26:23.549 The law had to change to save that industry. 00:26:23.849 --> 00:26:26.730 Exactly. Before Katrina, the casinos had to be 00:26:26.730 --> 00:26:29.670 built on burges or floating structures, often 00:26:29.670 --> 00:26:32.450 just offshore. When the storm surge wiped them 00:26:32.450 --> 00:26:34.950 out, the legislature quickly changed the law, 00:26:35.069 --> 00:26:37.529 allowing casinos to rebuild on land, provided 00:26:37.529 --> 00:26:39.910 they were within 800 feet of the water. It was 00:26:39.910 --> 00:26:42.829 an economic necessity. Completely. Without that 00:26:42.829 --> 00:26:45.309 change, the state would have lost its vital gaming 00:26:45.309 --> 00:26:48.359 tax revenue entirely. To understand the difficulty 00:26:48.359 --> 00:26:50.819 the state has in attracting sustainable high 00:26:50.819 --> 00:26:53.559 -wage manufacturing, we have to look at a notorious 00:26:53.559 --> 00:26:57.200 failure that cost the state millions. The Greentech 00:26:57.200 --> 00:26:59.819 automotive fiasco. Right. This case study is 00:26:59.819 --> 00:27:01.980 a perfect example of what can go wrong when high 00:27:01.980 --> 00:27:03.940 -stakes incentives are deployed without sufficient 00:27:03.940 --> 00:27:06.940 oversight. Greentech Automotive, an electric 00:27:06.940 --> 00:27:09.359 car manufacturer, promised to bring a revolutionary 00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:12.240 new product and sustainable jobs to Tunica County. 00:27:12.420 --> 00:27:14.400 One of the poorest areas of the Delta. Exactly. 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:16.299 The promises were huge. What were the specifics? 00:27:16.940 --> 00:27:19.140 The state was promised a $60 million investment 00:27:19.140 --> 00:27:23.460 and the creation of 350 full -time jobs. In return, 00:27:23.740 --> 00:27:26.059 the company received significant state incentives, 00:27:26.200 --> 00:27:29.420 totaling $6 million, including tax breaks and 00:27:29.420 --> 00:27:32.640 local bonds. The hope was that this investment 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:34.960 would pull the Delta out of its post -agricultural 00:27:34.960 --> 00:27:38.400 slump. And the reality was far removed from the 00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:41.940 promise. Far removed. The plant ultimately produced 00:27:41.940 --> 00:27:45.450 few, if any, street -legal cars. The state auditor 00:27:45.450 --> 00:27:47.529 later found the company was largely a game of 00:27:47.529 --> 00:27:50.210 smoke and mirrors. And internal records confirmed 00:27:50.210 --> 00:27:53.150 they never employed more than 94 full -time workers 00:27:53.150 --> 00:27:55.930 in Mississippi at any point. A huge political 00:27:55.930 --> 00:27:58.970 scandal erupted as state officials demanded repayment. 00:27:59.170 --> 00:28:01.289 And what was the final resolution on that? After 00:28:01.289 --> 00:28:03.190 declaring bankruptcy, the ultimate resolution 00:28:03.190 --> 00:28:05.750 was deeply disappointing. A final settlement 00:28:05.750 --> 00:28:09.490 in 2020 only returned $575 ,000 back to the state 00:28:09.490 --> 00:28:12.309 and county. A fraction of the $6 million in incentives. 00:28:12.569 --> 00:28:15.069 A tiny fraction. This failure highlighted the 00:28:15.069 --> 00:28:17.089 vulnerability of Mississippi to high -risk speculative 00:28:17.089 --> 00:28:19.450 manufacturing investments and the difficulty 00:28:19.450 --> 00:28:22.029 in realizing promised job creation. Let's turn 00:28:22.029 --> 00:28:24.599 now to the political landscape. Because despite 00:28:24.599 --> 00:28:26.500 the economic and social struggles, the state 00:28:26.500 --> 00:28:28.920 has recently addressed some of its most entrenched 00:28:28.920 --> 00:28:31.579 historic barriers to democracy. First, we have 00:28:31.579 --> 00:28:34.119 to acknowledge the ongoing context of voting 00:28:34.119 --> 00:28:37.660 barriers. Mississippi is ranked the fourth hardest 00:28:37.660 --> 00:28:40.960 state for citizens to vote in, partly due to 00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:43.819 the residual complexity of its voting laws. And 00:28:43.819 --> 00:28:45.839 it also continues to have the highest rate of 00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:47.740 African -American disenfranchisement in the U 00:28:47.740 --> 00:28:50.839 .S. Estimated at around 16 percent. primarily 00:28:50.839 --> 00:28:53.539 due to laws that bar convicted felons from voting 00:28:53.539 --> 00:28:56.099 unless their rights are restored. However, a 00:28:56.099 --> 00:28:58.200 massive historical wrong was finally righted 00:28:58.200 --> 00:29:01.160 in 2020 regarding gubernatorial elections. This 00:29:01.160 --> 00:29:03.940 takes us directly back to that 1890 Jim Crow 00:29:03.940 --> 00:29:07.160 constitution. This is a remarkable story of institutional 00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:10.759 inertia finally being overcome. The 1890 Constitution 00:29:10.759 --> 00:29:14.079 mandated an explicitly Jim Crow -era election 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:16.640 law for the governor, sometimes called Mississippi's 00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:19.019 own electoral college. So a candidate had to 00:29:19.019 --> 00:29:21.799 win both the statewide popular vote and a majority 00:29:21.799 --> 00:29:24.920 of the 122 districts in the state House of Representatives. 00:29:25.180 --> 00:29:27.000 Right, and this was designed to minimize black 00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:29.599 political power. By requiring a candidate to 00:29:29.599 --> 00:29:32.460 win district majorities, the law ensured that 00:29:32.460 --> 00:29:34.759 state representatives, who often represented 00:29:34.759 --> 00:29:37.059 districts, carefully gerrymandered to suppress 00:29:37.059 --> 00:29:40.200 black influence. could overturn the statewide 00:29:40.200 --> 00:29:44.460 popular will. If no candidate met both requirements, 00:29:44.819 --> 00:29:46.940 the House got to choose the winner. It was a 00:29:46.940 --> 00:29:49.200 political safety valve. A safety valve designed 00:29:49.200 --> 00:29:51.740 to prevent an African -American candidate, even 00:29:51.740 --> 00:29:54.279 one who won the popular vote, from taking the 00:29:54.279 --> 00:29:56.240 state's highest office. But the people finally 00:29:56.240 --> 00:29:59.710 spoke in 2020. They did. In the statewide referendum, 00:29:59.970 --> 00:30:03.490 79 % of Mississippians voted to remove this antique 00:30:03.490 --> 00:30:05.829 racist election law. So now the state simply 00:30:05.829 --> 00:30:08.509 requires a runoff election if no candidate wins 00:30:08.509 --> 00:30:11.269 the majority. Yes, thereby dismantling a century 00:30:11.269 --> 00:30:13.569 -old institutional barrier to political equality. 00:30:13.849 --> 00:30:16.289 It was a huge step. And this move to remove historical 00:30:16.289 --> 00:30:18.710 barriers contrasts sharply with the state's continued 00:30:18.710 --> 00:30:21.289 passage of restrictive social laws. We have to 00:30:21.289 --> 00:30:25.809 look at HB 1523 from 2016. HB 1523, the Protecting 00:30:25.809 --> 00:30:27.569 Freedom of Conscience from Government Forced 00:30:27.569 --> 00:30:29.940 Action. Act was one of the most comprehensive 00:30:29.940 --> 00:30:32.579 religious freedom laws passed in the U .S. It 00:30:32.579 --> 00:30:35.259 codified three specific religious or moral beliefs. 00:30:35.539 --> 00:30:38.900 That marriage is between a man and a woman. That 00:30:38.900 --> 00:30:41.200 sexual relations should only occur within such 00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:43.579 a marriage. And that gender is determined by 00:30:43.579 --> 00:30:45.940 the sex assigned at birth. And what did the law 00:30:45.940 --> 00:30:48.880 allow in practice? It allowed individuals and 00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:52.000 businesses to refuse services to same -sex couples 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:55.299 or transgender individuals based on those codified 00:30:55.299 --> 00:30:58.339 religious beliefs. This included employment decisions, 00:30:58.700 --> 00:31:01.720 housing decisions by landlords, and refusal of 00:31:01.720 --> 00:31:04.200 services by wedding vendors. And it was challenged, 00:31:04.380 --> 00:31:06.819 but what was the outcome? Although it was initially 00:31:06.819 --> 00:31:09.680 blocked by a federal judge, a federal appeals 00:31:09.680 --> 00:31:13.539 court upheld the law in 2017, arguing the plaintiffs 00:31:13.539 --> 00:31:16.039 lacked standing to challenge it, which means 00:31:16.039 --> 00:31:18.500 the law remains in effect today. Finally, we 00:31:18.500 --> 00:31:21.059 must note the impact Mississippi has had on national 00:31:21.059 --> 00:31:23.720 jurisprudence, specifically regarding its penal 00:31:23.720 --> 00:31:26.559 system. The 2021 U .S. Supreme Court ruling in 00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:29.880 Jones v. Mississippi upheld a state law allowing 00:31:29.880 --> 00:31:32.680 judges to impose mandatory life imprisonment 00:31:32.680 --> 00:31:35.319 without parole for children convicted of murder, 00:31:35.480 --> 00:31:37.759 even when the judge did not specifically find 00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:40.380 the offender was permanently incorrigible. So 00:31:40.380 --> 00:31:42.839 you have these contrasting actions, removing 00:31:42.839 --> 00:31:45.460 historical voting barriers while simultaneously 00:31:45.460 --> 00:31:48.299 upholding restrictive social and penal laws. 00:31:48.579 --> 00:31:51.619 It shows the complex, divided political soul 00:31:51.619 --> 00:31:54.180 of the modern state. Okay, now we arrive at the 00:31:54.180 --> 00:31:56.759 central, painful contradiction of the state today. 00:31:56.980 --> 00:31:59.299 We've seen the historical drivers of poverty, 00:31:59.460 --> 00:32:02.119 but let's examine the dire results in public 00:32:02.119 --> 00:32:06.000 health. Mississippi ranks 50th last place among 00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:08.660 all U .S. states for health care. The data is 00:32:08.660 --> 00:32:11.680 not just core. It is catastrophic. Mississippi 00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:14.380 has the highest rates nationally for infant and 00:32:14.380 --> 00:32:17.039 neonatal deaths, which speaks volumes about maternal 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:19.680 health and prenatal care access. And on top of 00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:21.519 that, it records the highest death rates from 00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:23.839 major chronic conditions. Heart disease, hypertension, 00:32:24.279 --> 00:32:26.640 diabetes, and adult inactivity. It's across the 00:32:26.640 --> 00:32:28.980 board. The obesity crisis is not just an indicator. 00:32:29.240 --> 00:32:31.819 It's a deep, entrenched public health emergency. 00:32:32.299 --> 00:32:34.859 It is persistent. The sources show that for three 00:32:34.859 --> 00:32:37.519 consecutive years, more than 30 percent of Mississippi 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:40.099 residents were classified as obese, leading the 00:32:40.099 --> 00:32:42.400 nation during that period. And the contributing 00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:45.220 factors are structural, rooted in the socioeconomic 00:32:45.220 --> 00:32:47.619 framework. We need to connect the dots here. 00:32:47.920 --> 00:32:51.339 What are the specific structural issues fueling 00:32:51.339 --> 00:32:54.099 these health outcomes? Well, the lack of medical 00:32:54.099 --> 00:32:56.720 care accessibility is key. Mississippi is a state 00:32:56.720 --> 00:32:58.940 that has consistently declined to expand Medicaid 00:32:58.940 --> 00:33:01.819 under the Affordable Care Act. Which leaves hundreds 00:33:01.819 --> 00:33:03.920 of thousands of low -income residents without 00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:06.970 affordable coverage. And? In compounding this, 00:33:07.130 --> 00:33:09.950 rural areas, particularly in the Delta, suffer 00:33:09.950 --> 00:33:12.769 from hospital closures, meaning emergency and 00:33:12.769 --> 00:33:15.369 preventative care often requires traveling hundreds 00:33:15.369 --> 00:33:17.549 of miles. And beyond just clinical care, there 00:33:17.549 --> 00:33:20.049 are also the factors tied to food and the environment. 00:33:20.490 --> 00:33:23.349 Absolutely. You see widespread poverty that limits 00:33:23.349 --> 00:33:26.089 access to healthy foods, which leads to the proliferation 00:33:26.089 --> 00:33:28.990 of food deserts areas where residents lack easy 00:33:28.990 --> 00:33:31.690 access to supermarkets and fresh produce. So 00:33:31.690 --> 00:33:34.309 they're relying on high calorie, low nutrient 00:33:34.309 --> 00:33:37.250 convenience store options. Exactly. And previous 00:33:37.250 --> 00:33:39.450 intervention strategies have often failed because 00:33:39.450 --> 00:33:41.490 they were not culturally sensitive or practical 00:33:41.490 --> 00:33:44.410 for low income, geographically isolated African 00:33:44.410 --> 00:33:47.230 -American populations. The crisis is not just 00:33:47.230 --> 00:33:50.269 medical. It's a direct result of political and 00:33:50.269 --> 00:33:53.230 economic. structural decisions. This is the shadow 00:33:53.230 --> 00:33:55.509 side of the state, firmly rooted in its history 00:33:55.509 --> 00:33:58.789 of systemic poverty. But we pivot now to the 00:33:58.789 --> 00:34:01.190 area where Mississippi has achieved stunning, 00:34:01.349 --> 00:34:05.609 rapid success, education. The state has engineered 00:34:05.609 --> 00:34:08.110 a turnaround so profound, it's now referred to 00:34:08.110 --> 00:34:10.860 as the Mississippi miracle. And to appreciate 00:34:10.860 --> 00:34:12.539 the miracle, you really have to remember the 00:34:12.539 --> 00:34:15.519 low starting point. Historically, education was 00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:18.760 segregated until the late 1960s. When integration 00:34:18.760 --> 00:34:21.320 finally arrived, the subsequent white flight 00:34:21.320 --> 00:34:24.260 to private segregation academies in many areas 00:34:25.059 --> 00:34:26.980 destabilized and starved public school funding 00:34:26.980 --> 00:34:29.159 for decades. And their academic results reflected 00:34:29.159 --> 00:34:31.760 this instability for a long time. They did. As 00:34:31.760 --> 00:34:34.579 recently as 2007, Mississippi was ranked among 00:34:34.579 --> 00:34:36.820 the absolute worst in the nation. They scored 00:34:36.820 --> 00:34:39.320 the lowest of any state on the National Assessments 00:34:39.320 --> 00:34:42.360 of Educational Progress, or NAEP. In both math 00:34:42.360 --> 00:34:44.420 and science, and they had the lowest average 00:34:44.420 --> 00:34:47.500 ACT scores. Students were performing a full grade 00:34:47.500 --> 00:34:49.699 level below the national average. It was a crisis. 00:34:49.980 --> 00:34:52.239 So how did they pull off this extraordinary turnaround? 00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:54.840 We need to know the specific policy and curriculum 00:34:54.840 --> 00:34:57.219 changes that drove this success. This is the 00:34:57.219 --> 00:34:59.760 core nugget of knowledge from this section. The 00:34:59.760 --> 00:35:02.219 dramatic educational transformation is attributed 00:35:02.219 --> 00:35:05.420 to a series of focused state -level policy changes 00:35:05.420 --> 00:35:09.119 implemented starting around 2013. This wasn't 00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:11.500 just an incremental adjustment. It was a fundamental 00:35:11.500 --> 00:35:13.760 pedagogical shift. And what was the flagship 00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:16.880 policy behind this? The flagship was the Literacy 00:35:16.880 --> 00:35:21.090 -Based Promotion Act. or LBPA. This law instituted 00:35:21.090 --> 00:35:23.750 a strict third grade reading gate. Meaning if 00:35:23.750 --> 00:35:26.190 students can't demonstrate basic reading proficiency 00:35:26.190 --> 00:35:28.750 by the end of third grade, they generally are 00:35:28.750 --> 00:35:30.550 not promoted to the fourth grade. That's right. 00:35:30.909 --> 00:35:33.710 It put an intense focus on early literacy and 00:35:33.710 --> 00:35:36.110 high quality instruction from day one. And what 00:35:36.110 --> 00:35:37.849 accompanied that reading gate? It wasn't just 00:35:37.849 --> 00:35:40.570 the one policy. No, the state mandated the adoption 00:35:40.570 --> 00:35:43.110 of high quality research based curricula across 00:35:43.110 --> 00:35:45.730 districts, specifically focusing on the science 00:35:45.730 --> 00:35:48.510 of reading. They also introduced new rigorous 00:35:48.510 --> 00:35:51.269 accountability systems for schools and provided 00:35:51.269 --> 00:35:53.389 intensive training for teachers in these new 00:35:53.389 --> 00:35:55.710 curricula. So it was a statewide multimillion 00:35:55.710 --> 00:35:58.110 dollar investment focused squarely on elementary 00:35:58.110 --> 00:36:02.119 reading skills. It was a very focused. And the 00:36:02.119 --> 00:36:04.119 results were almost immediate and sustained. 00:36:04.460 --> 00:36:08.039 They were stark. By 2024, in those crucial NAEP 00:36:08.039 --> 00:36:11.000 scores, which are the national benchmark, Mississippi 00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:13.079 students were performing a half -grade level 00:36:13.079 --> 00:36:15.920 above the average U .S. student. Going from last 00:36:15.920 --> 00:36:17.920 place to above the national average in a single 00:36:17.920 --> 00:36:20.619 decade, especially given the state's severe poverty 00:36:20.619 --> 00:36:23.800 challenges, is just, it's an astonishing, unprecedented 00:36:23.800 --> 00:36:26.980 reversal of fortune. It really is. What a journey 00:36:26.980 --> 00:36:29.480 through contrast and contradiction. So to summarize, 00:36:30.119 --> 00:36:32.539 We have a state defined by its foundational culture, 00:36:32.739 --> 00:36:35.340 its music, its deep religious faith and its unique 00:36:35.340 --> 00:36:38.579 river fed geography. But a state still fundamentally 00:36:38.579 --> 00:36:41.519 navigating the immense economic and social burdens 00:36:41.519 --> 00:36:44.500 left by a history rooted in massive scale plantation 00:36:44.500 --> 00:36:47.679 agriculture and the extreme racial disenfranchisement 00:36:47.679 --> 00:36:50.340 codified in 1890. It's a place where immense 00:36:50.340 --> 00:36:53.099 historical wealth contrasts so sharply with modern 00:36:53.099 --> 00:36:55.360 poverty, where structural decisions like the 00:36:55.360 --> 00:36:57.599 highest grocery tax in the nation exacerbate 00:36:57.599 --> 00:36:59.739 the underlying issues, and where political progress, 00:36:59.940 --> 00:37:02.320 like removing the Jim Crow election law, moves 00:37:02.320 --> 00:37:05.519 forward while social barriers like HB 1523 remain 00:37:05.519 --> 00:37:08.400 in place. Yet, the existence of the Mississippi 00:37:08.400 --> 00:37:11.340 miracle in education gives us this tangible proof 00:37:11.340 --> 00:37:14.440 that systemic, intentional change is possible, 00:37:14.679 --> 00:37:17.829 even in the most entrenched environments. And 00:37:17.829 --> 00:37:19.929 that leads to our final provocative thought for 00:37:19.929 --> 00:37:23.730 you, the listener, to mull over long after this 00:37:23.730 --> 00:37:26.090 deep dive is complete. Okay. Mississippi has 00:37:26.090 --> 00:37:28.230 successfully engineered a dramatic educational 00:37:28.230 --> 00:37:31.449 miracle in a single decade, moving from the very 00:37:31.449 --> 00:37:34.610 bottom to above the national average. Given that 00:37:34.610 --> 00:37:36.889 incredible achievement, which required political 00:37:36.889 --> 00:37:39.869 will, specific policy implementation, and dedicated 00:37:39.869 --> 00:37:42.650 resource allocation, what does this reveal about 00:37:42.650 --> 00:37:45.389 the sheer difficulty, complexity, and perhaps 00:37:45.389 --> 00:37:47.489 the political resistance involved in addressing 00:37:47.489 --> 00:37:50.289 its parallel and equally entrenched crisis in 00:37:50.289 --> 00:37:52.429 public health, where it remains firmly ranked 00:37:52.429 --> 00:37:55.250 last in the nation? What is the secret to scaling 00:37:55.250 --> 00:37:57.969 one remarkable success, moving the academic needle? 00:37:58.440 --> 00:38:00.880 to solve the other deeply embedded life and death 00:38:00.880 --> 00:38:03.239 problem of public wellness. Something to ponder 00:38:03.239 --> 00:38:05.179 as you connect the history of the Delta to the 00:38:05.179 --> 00:38:07.500 data of today. We appreciate you joining us for 00:38:07.500 --> 00:38:09.260 this rigorous look into the heart of the Deep 00:38:09.260 --> 00:38:09.559 South.