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Book Review
Free at Last
1990
Overview
Has any state's politics changed more than Mississippi's in the last quarter-century? In the early 1960's Gov. Ross Barnett led white Mississippians in crying ''Never!'' to demands for civil rights. Medgar Evers, head of the Mississippi chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was shot and killed in 1963. Three civil rights workers were murdered in Neshoba County in 1964 for encouraging blacks to exercise their right to vote. James Meredith, who in 1962 integrated the University of Mississippi with the help of Federal troops, was shot in 1966 when he staged a one-man march for black voting rights. With the largest black percentage of any state (42 percent in 1960, 37 percent in 1970, 35 percent in 1980), Mississippi also had the most violent and protracted resistance to the civil rights movement. To these beliefs there is a strong counterargument - made by the political scientist Abigail Thernstrom in her 1987 book ''Whose Votes Count?'' - that Mr. [Frank R. Parker]'s views create ''proportionate ethnic and racial representation.'' But the strength of this counterargument is, ironically, proof of Mr. Parker's success. He, and many black and white Mississippians, starting with the heroes and heroines who risked their lives in the 1960's, changed what seemed an unchangeably racist politics into one in which citizens have a good chance of getting fair representation. So, in today's Mississippi, politicians have incentives to treat blacks and whites fairly and civilly. The bad news is that blacks and whites still seem to live most of their lives in separate communities and see the world around themselves so differently. The good news is that today in Mississippi black votes - all votes - count.
Publisher
New York Times Company
Subject
