To read thee story behind the cartoon, click here.
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On this day in 1919
JULY 24, 1919
A white mob, many of them World War I veterans, began assaulting random Black Americans after a white woman was allegedly attacked in Washington, D.C. Weeks prior, newspapers had fanned hysteria with reports of a “serial attacker” of white women.
Police arrested hundreds of Black men, and the Ku Klux Klan began night rides into the Black community, spreading terror. The NAACP warned the newspapers that they were “sowing the seeds of a race riot by their inflammatory headlines.” Their prediction came true when a white mob in Washington began beating anyone with Black skin, including children.
Historian Carter G. Woodson, who went on to found Black History Month, recalled seeing a Black man shot: “I heard him groaning in his struggle as I hurried away as fast as I could without running, expecting every moment to be lynched myself.”
When police refused to intervene, Black Americans fought back. About 375,000 had served in World War I and were willing to fight for their rights. President Woodrow Wilson ordered 2,000 federal troops to regain control.
By the time the violence ended, as many as 39 were dead and 150 injured. Two Black men went to prison for decades for crimes for which they were likely innocent. Before the year ended, similar violence against Black Americans would take place in more than two dozen cities, killing up to 237 Black men in Elaine, Arkansas alone. The violence became known as “Red Summer.”
“There have been race riots throughout the breadth of American history, in every decade since the founding of the country, and the worst of it was in 1919,” Cameron McWhirter, author of “Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America”, told Smithsonian Magazine. “Every single one was instigated by white mobs, and Washington was the pinnacle if for no other reason than the symbolism.”
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Chris McDaniel, Lynn Fitch show that Mississippi might as well not have campaign finance laws
In his bid for lieutenant governor, state Sen. Chris McDaniel has thumbed his nose at Mississippi’s campaign finance laws, and as the Aug. 8 Republican primary nears, it appears nothing will come of it.
No charges. No fines. No reprimand. No real investigation. No enforcement.
Attorney General Lynn Fitch, the only state official with clear authority to enforce campaign finance laws, has shown little interest in doing so during her first term in office. Incumbent Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann has filed complaints against McDaniel with Fitch, but the AG office’s only comment so far, three months ago, was: “We are reviewing it.”
The list of McDaniel’s legally questionable maneuvers with campaign money is lengthy. But here are a couple of big points for starters:
A state PAC McDaniel created received $475,000 from a secretive Virginia dark-money nonprofit corporation. His PAC then funneled $465,000 of it to his campaign.
State law limits such corporate donations to $1,000 a year to a candidate or PAC. So the donation was $474,000 over the legal limit.
McDaniel’s PAC initially hid some of these transactions with incomplete, inaccurate reporting to the secretary of state’s office. But eventually, after questions from Mississippi Today, he first chalked it up to “clerical errors.”
Then, eventually, McDaniel said Mississippi’s campaign finance laws are improper but he doesn’t have time to mount a legal challenge, so his campaign returned the money to his PAC. McDaniel said his PAC then returned the money to the dark money group, and he shut down the PAC.
But, by his own reporting, McDaniel’s defunct PAC did not return $15,000 of the over-state-limits money, and has offered no accounting for what happened to it.
More recently, Wisconsin-based political consultant Thomas Datwyler, who McDaniel’s campaign listed as its treasurer, has created a Mississippi PAC that is running ads against Hosemann. Datwyler has a history of running afoul of Federal Election Commission campaign finance rules with several congressional candidates.
READ MORE: Chris McDaniel’s reports deny accurate public accounting of campaign money
McDaniel’s campaign finance reports — which are supposed to provide the public an accounting of who is financing his election bid — have defied logic and math. After filing amended, amended-amended and termination-amended reports for his campaign, it’s still unclear how much money he has raised for his campaign.
Oddly, McDaniel during his long tenure as a state senator loudly championed stricter campaign finance laws and transparency for the public on sources of political money. But his PAC and campaign finances mark the largest secret and over the legal limit donation to a state campaign in Mississippi.
When asked why the nonprofit American Exceptionalism Institute of Virginia was giving him nearly half a million dollars and what its interest in Mississippi’s lieutenant governor is, McDaniel did not respond. AEI is a dark money nonprofit that has been noted for providing millions in secretly sourced money to candidates in Nevada and Georgia, including former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler. Mississippi Today was unable to reach anyone with AEI and there is very little information about the group online.
As with past Mississippi campaign finance complaints, the secretary of state’s office and ethics commission say they have no clear investigative or enforcement authority over campaign finances.
Mississippi’s campaign finance laws are aimed at providing transparency to the voting public and limiting the corrosive influence of big money in politics. But the laws are a confusing, often conflicting patchwork that have been piece-mealed over years by the Legislature into the state code books without providing clear authority. The secretary of state’s office is responsible for receiving campaign finance reports, but serves mainly as a repository, with no real investigative or enforcement authority. The Ethics Commission, after some changes to laws in recent years, appears to have some authority, but it’s really unclear.
Fitch, as the state’s top law officer, runs the only state agency with clear authority to investigate and prosecute campaign finance violations. It appears at this point, despite the egregious violations McDaniel’s campaign is accused of, Fitch is not going to get involved.
If that’s the case, one wonders how her office could ever in the future look into or prosecute any other reported campaign violation. That would, understandably, draw accusations of selective prosecution.
Mississippi already has weak campaign finance laws, with weak penalties for violating them. Given the state’s lack of enforcement of these laws — and usually a failure to even investigate complaints — Mississippi might as well have no campaign finance laws at all.
READ MORE: Hundreds of thousands of dollars unaccounted, questionable in McDaniel’s campaign report
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Podcast: Former Sec. of State Dick Molpus talks Neshoba County Fair
Neshoba County native Dick Molpus, who served three terms as Secretary of State, discusses the importance of the Neshoba County Fair on Mississippi politics. Molpus, who has attended 70 fairs, shares some of his favorite memories from over the years.
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Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame will induct eight new members Saturday
The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame will induct eight new members in ceremonies Saturday night at the Jackson Convention Center. The MSHOF Class of 2023 is a diverse one, which, as usual, includes high achieving athletes and coaches.
Below, the eight inductees are profiled, in alphabetical order.
Jeff Herrod, football
Full name: Jeff Sylvester Herrod
Age: 57
Birthplace: Birmingham
College: Ole Miss (1984-87), All-SEC linebacker 1986-87, Ole Miss Team of the Century. Leading tackler in Ole Miss history.
Professional: 11 years in NFL, 10 with Indianapolis Colts. Led Colts in tackles for seven seasons.
Did you know: Herrod was lightly recruited out of high school and Ole Miss was his only Division I offer. He planned to enlist in the U.S. Marines until receiving a late scholarship offer from Ole Miss coach Billy Brewer. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.
Crowning achievement: Herrod, with 528 tackles in his Ole Miss career, is the second leading tackler in Southeastern Conference history behind Tennessee’s Andy Spiva.
Paul Maholm, baseball
Full name: Paul Gurner Maholm
Age: 43
Birthplace: Greenwood (grew up in Holly Springs)
Lives: Hattiesburg
College: Mississippi State (2001-03). A left-handed pitcher, Maholm is one of the most accomplished pitchers in Diamond Dog history with a 27-10 record and 273 strikeouts in 312 innings. Made 46 appearances, 44 starts. Was a freshman All American and All SEC as a sophomore and junior.
Professional: Maholm was the eighth overall pick of the 2003 MLB Draft. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Maholm remains the third highest draft pick in MSU baseball history. Played for four Major League teams (Pirates, Cubs, Braves and Dodgers) over 10 seasons at baseball’s highest level, earning $27 million over that period.
Did you know? Maholm declined a signing bonus from the Minnesota Twins to attend Mississippi State, then signed a $2.2 million bonus after three years as a Bulldog. An avid golfer, Maholm is formerly the part owner of the Hattiesburg Country Club and competes at the amateur level.
Crowning achievement: The ace of State’s staff for all three of his Bulldog seasons, Maholm was inducted into the Ron Polk Ring of Honor in 2021.
John Mangum, football
Full name: John Wayne Mangum Jr.
Age: 56
Birthplace: Jackson (grew up in Magee)
Lives: Flowood
College: Alabama (1986-89). Hard-hitting defensive back recruited to Alabama after being named Mississippi’s high school player of the year at Magee. Recruited by Mississippi Sports Hall of Famer Ray Perkins. Mangum holds the Crimson Tide career record for passes broken up. His 16 career pass interceptions rank second in Alabama history.
Professional: Drafted in the sixth round by the Chicago Bears, Mangum played nine seasons in the Windy City, totaling 306 career tackles, 4.5 sacks and five interceptions.
Did you know: Mangum is part of one of Mississippi’s most athletic families. His father, John Wayne Mangum Sr., was a standout defensive tackle for some of the bet defenses in Southern Miss history and then played for the Boston Patriots in the American Football League. His younger brother Kris was an outstanding tight end at Ole Miss and in the NFL. His son, Jake, is one of the all-time baseball heroes at Mississippi State and currently plays for at the Class AAA level in the Miami Marlins organization.
Crowning achievement: Listed at a smallish 5 feet, 10 inches and 190 pounds, Mangum nevertheless was one of the most productive defensive backs in Alabama’s proud football history and a highly productive NFL cornerback and safety for nine seasons.
Jim Page, baseball (player and coach)
Full name: James Jeffrey Page
Age: 60
Birthplace: Woodbridge, Va.
Lives: Flowood
College: Millsaps
Player: Pitched and played third base for the Millsaps Majors (1981-85). In his senior season, Page batted a school record .487. He was his team’s MVP both as a sophomore and as a senior.
Coach: In 34 seasons at Millsaps, Page has achieved a record of 837-577-3 and has been named conference coach of the year eight times. His teams have won multiple conference championships, were ranked No. 1 in the nation in 2009, and reached the NCAA D-III World Series in 2013. During Page’s tenure, he has also coached 30 All-South Region players, 11 Conference Players of the Year, 10 American Baseball Coaches’ All-Americans, seven D-3baseball.com All-Americans and five Conference Pitchers of the Year. In total, eight of his players have gone on to play professionally.
Did you know: Nationally renowned as a hitting instructor, Page has contributed greatly to youth baseball in the mid-Mississippi area with his annual baseball camps that have provided training for literally thousands of Jackson-area youngsters.
Crowning achievement: Page would tell you it comes with his induction into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Said Page: “I am beyond humbled to join the greats like Will Clark, Harper Davis, Claude Passeau, Walter Payton, Jerry Rice and so many others. It’s beyond special, I can’t even begin to describe what it means to me.”
Tony Rosetti, world champion marksman
Full name: Tony J. Rosetti, Jr.
Age: 77
Birthplace: Biloxi
Lives: West Point
College: Ole Miss, competed and won national intercollegiate championships for the Ole Miss ROTC rifle team.
Military: When he wasn’t serving in Vietnam, Rosetti won several international shooting championships while in the U.S. Army (1964-71).
Team USA: Competing for Team USA in skeet shooting in the 1971 Pan American Games, Rosetti won a gold medal in team competition and a silver medal in the individual competition. In 1972, Rosetti competed in the Munich Olympics.
Did you know: Rosetti, who began shooting at age 11, is the first marksman selected for induction into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Also an expert golfer, Rosetti inherited his hand-eye coordination from his parents. His father played baseball at Ole Miss and his mother won championships as an amateur golfer.
Crowning achievement: Hard to say, Rosetti has achieved so much in shooting sports, winning international skeet shooting championships and setting national records. Perhaps this: In making the U.S. Olympic team in 1972, Rosetti set a national record, hitting 294 out of a possible 300 targets during the pressure-packed, three-day competition.
Carol Ross, basketball (player and coach)
Full name: Carol Ross
Age: 64
Birthplace: Oakland, MS
Lives: Oxford
College player: When she finished her four-year Ole Miss career (1977-81), she was one of only two players to have achieved more than 1,000 points, 500 assists and 250 steals. When the Southeastern Conference held its first-ever SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament, Ross made the first-ever SEC All-Tournament team. Helped Ole Miss to 97 victories over her four seasons, the last three of which she played for Mississippi Sports Hall of Famer Van Chancellor.
College coach: Ross remains the winningest coach in school history at Florida with a 247-121 (.671) record. During her four-year run at Ole Miss, Ross compiled a 77-50 (.606) record and guided the Lady Rebels to three NCAA Tournaments and a WNIT appearance. At Florida and Ole Miss combined, Ross coached a total of 27 All-SEC first team players.
Professional coach: Ross spent three seasons from 2012-14 as head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA. Her teams won 58 games and won 32. In 2012, she was voted WNBA Coach of the Year.
Did you know: Ross has served on the Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society and Coaches Against Cancer.
Crowning achievement: In 2012 Ross took over a Los Angeles Sparks team that had finished 15-19 the year before. Under Ross, the Sparks improved to 24-10, made the playoffs and she was named WNBA Coach of the Year in her first season as a WNBA head coach.
Patrick Surtain, football
Full name: Patrick Frank Surtain Sr.
Age: 47
Birthplace: New Orleans
Lives: Tallahassee, Fla.
College: A high school quarterback at Edna Karr High School in New Orleans, Surtain became one of the greatest defensive backs in Southern Miss history, a true shut-down cornerback (1994-97). Surtain led Conference USA in interceptions with six in both his junior and senior seasons when he was first-team all-conference. As a senior, he was named CUSA Defensive Player of the Year, helping the Golden Eagles to a 9-3 record (6-0 in the league) and a 41-7 victory over Pittsburgh in the Liberty Bowl.
Professional: Drafted in the second round (44th overall pick) by the Miami Dolphins, Surtain became a three-time Pro Bowler and a first team All-Pro in 2002. After seven seasons with the Dolphins, he played four more for the Kansas City Chiefs before retiring in 2008. He finished his NFL career with 37 pass interceptions.
Did you know: In 2016, Surtain became the coach at American Heritage High School in Plantation, Fla., where he coached his son, Patrick Surtain II, one of the nation’s most highly recruited high school players, who went on to become an All American at Alabama and the ninth overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. Patrick Surtain Sr. now coaches defensive backs at Florida State.
Crowning achievement: As a college player, he will remembered as one of the greatest defensive players in Southern Miss history. As a pro, in 2002, Surtain made first team All Pro, meaning that he was judged one of the best two cornerbacks in all of professional football.
Lewis Tillman, football
Full name: Lewis Darnell Tillman
Age: 57
Birthplace: Oklahoma City (grew up in Hazlehurst)
Lives: Dallas
College: At Jackson State (1985-88), Tillman was the offensive star on four consecutive SWAC championship teams and a two-time All-American who broke several of Walter Payton’s college rushing records. Tillman was a three-time All-SWAC running back and the 1987 SWAC Player of the Year. He played in 43 career games, running for 3,989 yards and 30 touchdowns.
Professional: Drafted in the fourth round by the New York Giants, Tillman played five years for the Giants and two more for the Chicago Bears. He won a Super Bowl ring in 1991 with the Giants and was later teammates with fellow Class of 2023 MSHOF inductee John Mangum with the Bears. For his NFL career, Tillman ran for 2,383 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Did you know: In the famous Jackson State-Southern Miss game of 1987, Tillman’s Tigers lost 17-7 but Tillman out-gained the entire Golden Eagle team. He rushed for 177 yards, more than USM gained with a freshman named Brett Favre at quarterback.
Crowning achievement: Tillman broke both the single season and career rushing records of Walter Payton at Jackson State. What more can you say?
The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame will host events Friday and Saturday at various sites in the Jackson area. All information, including how to obtain tickets, can be found by clicking here.
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Mississippi Stories: Janne Swearengen
In this episode of Mississippi Stories, Mississippi Today Editor-at-Large and Cartoonist Marshall Ramsey begins his series of author interviews leading up to the Mississippi Book Festival on August 19, 2023 at the State Capitol.
This week’s book is The Yorkie Who Sings At Midnight by Janne P. Swearengen. The Yorkie Who Sings At Midnight is the story of Angela Thumbelina, a tiny Yorkie rescued from a hoarding situation as an elder lady. Told through her eyes and heart and the eyes and heart of her adopted family, you will feel her pain and her joy. Adopted around the age of 12, Angela has shown the resilience and strength of a rescue. It’s a charming and moving tale about how love can make the difference for all.
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On this day in 1890
JULY 23, 1890
A half-dozen white men assassinated F.M.B. “Marsh” Cook after he criticized the pending Constitutional Convention for its plot to “restore” white supremacy and strip Black Mississippians of the right to vote. He had announced that he would run as a white Republican candidate for that convention and had urged Black voters to unite against this evil plot when he was gunned down.
The Cleveland Gazette hoped his killing would cause the federal government to intervene, but that never happened. The convention continued, and no one was ever tried for his killing. The new constitution and new laws did exactly what Cook had claimed — removed Black Mississippians from voting rolls and then kept them from regaining the right to vote through poll taxes and constitutional tests.
Other Southern states soon followed Mississippi’s lead, plunging the South into a legacy of disenfranchisement and discrimination. The measures proved so successful in barring African Americans that when the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965, less than 7% of Black Mississippians were allowed to vote.
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Gov. Tate Reeves is hyper-focused on trans issues, but what’s the real impact on Mississippi?
Gov. Tate Reeves’ most recent television commercial features him standing alone on a field intently cheering as his teenage daughter and her teammates run through their soccer drills.
“I love watching my daughter compete in soccer with and against some of the best female athletes around the country,” Reeves says in the ad. “I never thought I’d see the day where radical Democrats are working to give boys opportunities meant for girls, but here we are. As governor, I’ll hold the line against this insanity in Mississippi.”
Recently the Republican governor posted on social media: “Madison is hopping with activity this beautiful summer morning. So many young females — like Maddie — working on their game. Mississippi has to have leaders that will protect our kids. As your governor, you know I will.”
Based on the time Reeves devotes to talking about transgender women and girls competing in sports, it sure looks like he believes it is the No. 1 issue of this campaign season.
What is the impact of the issue on Mississippians?
According to research done by the UCLA’s Williams Institute, there are an estimated 9,600 transgender adults in Mississippi, comprising 0.41% of the population. The study estimates there are 2,400 trans children between the ages of 13 and 18 in Mississippi, comprising 1.2% of that population.
And how many of those Mississippians are trans females who are competing in girls’ or women’s sports in the state? Nobody — not the governor, not lawmakers who have passed legislation about the matter, not the Human Rights Campaign that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights — can name one trans athlete competing in sports that align with the athlete’s gender identity.
A Newsweek article quotes Joanna Harper, a medical physicist who has written extensively about the issue of sports and trans athletes, as saying, “While we don’t know the exact number of trans women competing in NCAA sports, I would be very surprised if there were more than 100 of them in the women’s category.”
As a point of reference, the NCAA reported 226,212 females competed in college sports in 2021-22.
As the Newsweek article pointed out, based on the UCLA study, there are 1.3 million trans adults (0.5%) and 300,000 trans minors (1.4%) nationwide. Not all of those are trans women, and even a smaller, unknown percentage compete in women’s sports.
In Mississippi, there have been instances of girls competing against boys in youth sports, but there are no examples of trans girls competing on girl’s teams. It is not uncommon for boy’s and girl’s select soccer teams to compete against each other in “friendly” matches in preteen or early teen years. Such games, no doubt, have occurred throughout the state. But no one can account for the problem Reeves has focused so much time on.
“Gov. Reeves is desperate,” said Rob Hill, the state director of the Human Rights Campaign. “In the face of his plummeting poll numbers, he’s going to do everything he can to avoid talking about his failed tenure as governor and his lack of vision and leadership for our future. Voters will see through these pathetic attacks on LGBTQ+ Mississippians and reject his attempt to marginalize transgender young people.”
Speaking of polls, according to a Siena College/Mississippi Today poll conducted earlier this year, 55% of respondents said they would only vote for a candidate who would expand Medicaid if elected. A strong majority 58% would only vote for a candidate who supports fully funding the Adequate Education Program to fund local school districts, and 58% would only vote for the candidate who supports eliminating the state’s grocery tax.
Reeves is on the wrong side of those issues, based on the poll numbers. Siena did poll one trans-related policy issue in Mississippi and found about 35% said they would only vote for a candidate who supports “maintaining the ban on gender affirming care for transgender youth,” as signed into law by the governor, while 31% would only vote for a candidate opposed to maintaining the ban. The governor also talks extensively about that ban.
There are no public polls available of Mississippians’ views on trans females competing in women’s sports. But a recent national poll indicates strong opposition — around 70% — to trans females competing in women’s sports. But other polls lower that number dramatically when people are told sports governing authorities are placing regulations on when trans females can compete.
It makes sense that poll results in Mississippi would be similar, if not even more one-sided.
At any rate, Reeves is spending an inordinate amount of time on an issue with an impact in the state that is, according to the numbers, hard to identify.
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