My Mississippi

A favorite scene of mine from the television show In the Heat of the Night involved Mississippi deputy Bubba Skinner going to California. A lady, showing him the sites of LA, pointed to a large mansion and commented that she was sure that he didn't have anything like that back home in Mississippi. "No, mam," he replied. "We have the originals."

There was a time that I was embarrassed to be from Mississippi. It seemed to be the butt of so many jokes on television. When things were bad in other states, they always seemed to be thankful that at least they weren't Mississippi. Mississippi always seemed to be on everyone's hit list--I mean the bottom of everyone's list.

I want to introduce you my Mississippi--the Mississippi that produced William Faulkner and John Grisham, Eudora Welty and Mildred D. Taylor, W. C. Handy and Elvis Presley, Charlie Pride and Faith Hill, Oprah Winfrey and Turner Catledge, Fannie Lou Hamer and Trent Lott, and many others who have made contributions to our society.

The Mississippi region was first explored by the Spanish under the leadership of Hernando de Soto in 1540 but was not settled until 1699 by the French. After the French and Indian War was over in 1763, the British gained the land. While the British were busy with those pesky colonists during the American Revolution, the Spanish decided to come in and take over the southern part known then as West Florida. Later the United States would gain the area. On December 10, 1817, Mississippi was admitted to the Union as the 20th state, but less than fifty years later the state would become the second to secede. It was an agricultural state and cotton was king. More than 80,000 Mississippians served in the Confederate armies. Mississippi also gave the Confederacy its only president, Jefferson Davis.

Tradition is important to life in Mississippi. The state and its people take pride in its many ante-bellum homes. Every spring towns such as Natchez, Holly Springs, Columbus, and Vicksburg invite thousands of visitors to take a pilgrimage to these reminders of life in the Old South.

While Mississippians remember the past, they refuse to be contained by it. Mississippi is moving forward. Today most Mississippians are employed in service industries rather than agriculture. Gambling has become a big industry in the state. The world's largest floating casino (the Grand Casino) is located in Tunica County--the same county that was once labeled the poorest county in the nation.

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