(Union supporters at the giant "March on Mississippi" in support of unionization efforts at the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi, last March)
I was sitting down today to write a post on the recent grand
opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, Mississippi. As you
may have read, the museum opened with major controversy because President Trump
came to town to be part of the ceremonies.
Invited by Republican Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, a
stalwart Trump supporter who boasts of being the state’s first Tea Party
governor, Trump arrived amid a storm of protest, including boycotts of the
event by civil rights-era legends like John Lewis and major progressive leaders
in the state.
At the heart of what I wanted to write, however, was an
underlying hypocrisy that bothers me about a museum—and I’ve heard that it is
an amazing place—whose founders accepted a $500,000 gift from the Nissan corporation,
the same corporation that fought tooth and nail against a unionizing effort
among its predominantly black workforce in Canton, Mississippi, last August.
Amid the hue-and-cry by state and national NAACP leaders
over Trump’s presence at the museum opening—and I agree it was a disgrace to
have him there—I kept thinking how that same NAACP has gladly accepted large
sums of cash from Nissan, cash that I believe kept the organization from fully
joining the unionization effort and condemning the bullying and threatening
tactics Nissan employed that ultimately defeated it.
I’m not writing the post, however, because my star student
at the University of Mississippi, Jaz Brisack, has written a much better piece
that was published this week by LikeTheDew.
Mark my word, Jaz Brisack, already an active organizer and fine writer, is a
future force to be reckoned with on the labor/progressive front in not only the
South but across the country as well. I couldn’t be prouder of her than I am
today.
Below is a link to Jaz’s article. Read and enjoy!
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