MORGAN(Freeman) EXPLAINS HIS LOVE FOR MISUNDERSTOOD MISSISSIPPI (less racist than most other places)

contactmusic.com ^ | 2-27-05

[WKB]

OSCAR nominee MORGAN FREEMAN has discovered why he loves his home state of Mississippi so much - it's less racist than most other places in America.

The actor grew up in racial segregation in the Delta region, which was once considered the heartland of American racism, but he insists he never felt oppression until he moved away.

And now he has fond memories of his childhood, despite the fact he wasn't allowed to attend certain clubs and had to sit on the balcony of his local cinema because only whites were allowed downstairs.

He says, "It can't bother you if that's the way life is. If you were raised up in Africa and you ate worms it wouldn't bother you, would it? Same thing.

"I wasn't thinking about rising up and going up to the Paramount and demanding to be let in to the ground floor. I just wanted to go to the movies."

Freeman admits he once dreamed of getting far away from Mississippi, but now he lives there and owns a blues bar and restaurant in Clarksdale.

He admits the state is still one of the most friendly places on earth, despite it's dubious reputation.

He adds, "I grew up in a segregated society that was purposely, obviously, openly segregated. I wasn't given any BS about anything else and I went up to the north and you see it and it's insidious... You want to think you're free-er but you're not."

[cyborg]

Thanks :-) My mom has finally thrown down the gauntlet about moving so I think I'm going to become well acquainted with Greyhound *lol* All she wants is a house and a enough land for a garden and fish pond and no snow. She said she's over cold weather hehehe.

[cyborg]

I'm sure they'll be showing some of his movies in honor of his win. I'll rent MDB when it comes out on video. He has an awesome voice, very cultivated. I love it.

[Clemenza]

I think race relations in the NE were set in stone by the large wave of Southern and Eastern European immigrants at the turn of the last century. These people and their children had never seen a black person in their life and freaked out when overnight there was a huge influx of blacks from the south and the Carribean and did not know how to react towards them. Add to that the tradition Irish-American antipathy towards blacks (see the NY draft riots and Pete Hamill's essays on the subject) and you get the hypocritical racial attitudes that you see today.

[cyborg]

Boy are you right about that.

[dixiechick2000]

Your entire post is absolutely correct.


"Jesse Jackson is sad because he lived through it and it seems as if he wants to 'keep hate alive' to line his pockets."


Greed---the great motivator.
The sad thing is that he professed to be like MLK.
But, he's nuthin' but a greedy thug who hijacked
the civil rights movement.
MLK would be very deeply saddened at that.

[smonk]

[jackbill]

You left out Boston.

[dixiechick2000]

That's wonderful!


"All she wants is a house and a enough land for a garden and fish pond and no snow. She said she's over cold weather hehehe."


There's plenty of what she wants, and not much
of what she doesn't want, all over the South.
I just happen to be partial to Missippy. ;o)

[cyborg]

Jesse Jackson sided with the welfare entitlement socialists because he saw the opportunity to make a dollar. He's no different than the slave catchers in Africa, that is those who caught people from other tribes and turned them over the Europeans for a profit. Sad isn't it?

[LYSandra]

I'm with you on not being able to watch movies I used to like because of mouthy actors ruining it for me like Robbins! I always thought Penn was a good actor but now can't watch him without foaming at the mouth! Same with lots of the musicians but I love Morgan Freeman and like that he keeps his politics to himself.

[dixiechick2000]

It's very sad.
But look on the bright side...
one day, he's gonna die.
All of us do. ;o)

[cyborg]

LOL! good point hehe

[CitizenM]

Howdy ex-neighbor! I lived in Mississippi, near Natchez for 3 years. Nice people, and - much less bigotry there than other places I lived, i.e. Detroit, Harrisburg/York, PA, and Virginia where I live now. And I was not unaware of the social environment. I paid close attention to it. Mississippians are nice people, bad in some places like other areas, but does not deserve such a bum rap.

Sometimes the Northerners (and I grew up in Pittsburgh so I can say this) are more prejudiced, more severe, and more inclined to exclude black Americans than was once, long ago, the situation in the South.

Underneath I believe many in the North really resented the immigration of the black people after the Civil War. They had no idea that soon those running/escaping from slavery would become their neighbors. They just wanted the idea of slavery to 1) Be resolved, and 2) Not affect them. The struggle of the blacks in the northern ghettos was much more harsh than the Northerners will admit. Not that slavery was good, but the Yankees really didn't give them a more comfortable environment.

And, besides that, it was a whole lot colder and there were no wonderfully smelling gardenias, or magnolia, cypress, or great spreading oak trees dripping with Spanish Moss. Boy, I loved the beauty of that state.

[jackbill]

The article doesn't mention that he has a partner in his blues bar (Ground Zero Blues Club) and restaurant (Madidi)- a longtime friend, a white guy, Bill Luckett.

See:

http://www.groundzerobluesclub.com/images/gallery/pages/Bill-Morgan_Coopwood_pix.html

[Red Badger]

I grew up in northern Miss'ippi in Hickory Flat. That's halfway between where Elvis was born (Tupelo) and where he died (Memphis). As Freeman says, there was segregation and you just dealt with it as a way of life. There were racists KKK types around but they were a minority and their views were not those of the general populace. There was a respectful separation between the white and black populations but it was never violent and always polite. Southern hospitality was ever present. I could go on and on. The most prejudiced people I ever met were all yankees.

BTW, Fox's Sheperd Smith is from Holly Springs and Oprah Winfrey and Brett Fahrve are from MS, too......

[Texaggie79]

He has a point. However there is still progress to be made down here. My friend from work, who is black (shes 27) recalled her highschool having a separate black and white prom. That was only 10 years ago. It shocked me to hear it. She said all the parties after the prom were mixed though. It was pretty much just the older people who ran the school and town that remained racist. So the youth of Miss is in good shape.

[cyborg]

There was a respectful separation between the white and black populations but it was never violent and always polite.

*** What a strange thing to say. I wouldn't say it was so much respectful as it was 'just the way things were'. What options did someone black have living in such a time. Either be angry and bitter or work with whatever you had. All that politeness ended whenever someone stepped out of place. Having said that, the North was no prize and there were places with unspoken 'whites only' policies just like the South.

[onyx]

Wonderful, happy posting.
Howlin's right.
You already look good. :)

[WKB]

I knew that

[onyx]

I know,... lol ... but I also know
you love seeing it in here in font.