Mississippi: An Unpolished Diamond

I love my state of Mississippi! My love for the state is not based on perfection. I guess you could say I love it despite of itself.

It has spent the better part of my 34 years on Earth perpetually breaking my heart. Yet, every time I am ready to flee, the leaves on the oak trees begin to change, a stereotype is laid to waste by a conversation, or I witness definitive progressive movement. Then I am truly, madly, deeply in love again.

To outsiders, this love for Mississippi must seem insane. Here I am a progressive, diversity-loving, Catholic, lesbian in the strongest fortress for neo-conservative principles and ideals. The Democratic National Convention largely dismisses Mississippi each election cycle because the easiest bet is that Mississippi will always turn red.

The fault for this assumption doesnt just lay at the feet of the apathetic democrats, or the active conservatives that celebrate Mississippis economic, and social, stasis. It lies at the doorstep of people like me-those that love the state despite its many, many flaws. The people who treat the state like a priceless diamond in the rough, but consciously chose never to polish that diamond. Then we feign shock when racism and homophobia still exist, an election map shows another vote for a politician who will do little to help us, or another law is passed that strips civil rights. In fact, we rarely seem to pay attention until the moment a legislative fist strikes us down.

There are several facts I know about Mississippi. 1) The racial ghosts are real, and still actively haunt us. 2) Leadership, who overwhelmingly affiliates with the Republican Party , has done its due diligence to wreck our education and economic systems, leaving us at the bottom of every list that matters. 3) There is more untapped potential in this state, per capita, than probably any other state in the union.

Perhaps my third fact is just an opinion, or a symptom of staring at an unpolished diamond, but the moral of the story is I can no longer espouse love for Mississippi without being willing to polish the diamond.

In what ways this will manifest, I am not sure. As much as my feet, again, want to flee the hard work of loving the imperfect, there are three-million people who deserve a chance to climb a ladder to success; there is a new generation of children that deserve a quality education; and there is an entire country that deserves to know a different Mississippi! We have an abundance of diversity, talent, ingenuity, and natural resources that are currently wasted in poverty and secularism.

Perhaps Idealism is the reason I am sure that the polished version of Mississippi will shine so bright, or perhaps it is because I recognize that Mississippi has one of the lowest voter turnouts in the nation, and politically weve only known consistent political participation from one party. There are many conservative residents in this state, but I contend that the amount of those on the left is undetermined, and balancing our political options will bring about more participation and debate.

I cannot write this and emphatically state that I can solve all of these problems. What I can do is my part to open sealed lines of communication, encourage political participation, and appeal nationally for a new understanding of our state.

Though we dont speak about it much, there is an undercurrent of fear that makes many in Mississippi remain silent. We are hyper-aware that there are some who actively seek to do harm to those that try to change the way our state functions. That is fine. After watching so many-who are infinitely more talented then I- laid to waste by failed policy, poverty and cynicism, my greatest fear has ceased being what will happen to me. Instead, my greatest fear is what will happen to WE the people of Mississippi if we continue to choose to stare at a rough, unpolished diamond of a state without actively trying to make it shine.