Mississipi so far...

Before coming to Mississippi I admit that I was a little apprehensive about what this experience would entail. Coming from a relatively large city (Boston) I wasn't sure how I would adjust to rural life; and I also must admit that the history of racism in the South scared me a bit. But having experienced the people and culture here for a few days, I am pleasantly surprised by the warmth and welcoming of the people here. People are a lot friendlier in the South. Everyone seems genuinely interested in learning about one another and opening up to one another, a characteristic which is very different from the coldness people have towards one another in the South. In terms of experiencing racism here, I have yet to encounter it. Occasionally, we get some looks when Ben takes us somewhere and is followed by a trail of 4 young black girls, but overall people are still friendly. I guess when I came here I expected racism and the color divide to be the focus of the people in the Mississippi. I assumed that race and class differences would be so paramount that they would act as an everyday hindrance to progress, but instead I find that the history of racism in Mississippi and the transparency of its lingering effects on society is what pushes many, blacks and white, to work towards equality. People here aren't as complacent with racism as a I thought. In fact, I've experienced more blatant racism in Boston than in Oxford thus far; However, I still sometimes question how we (the interns) would be treated sometimes if we weren't with Ben and travelling in an Ole Miss van...

Despite the fact that many do seem genuinely concerned with the color and class divide in Mississippi, there are some areas in which these aspects of Mississippi culture are still very visible. For every restaurant that we've visited thus far, our group has consisted of some of the only, if not the only, black people there. Also, in some places, such as when we visited the Delta and Memphis, we also saw that most of the waiting staff was black, a stark contrast from the predominately white customers. I'm not sure if this is because of the quality of the places that we've gone (class divide) or the racial diversity of the places we've been (color divide) but I have noticed this as a big difference from restaurants in Boston. If I went to restaurant in Boston where all the customers were white and all the waiters were black I would probably leave, because to me this is a blatant sign of racism and inequality, but in the South, I realize, it may not be racism necessarily but maybe just tradition. Although, it's hard to distinguish sometimes because of the history of the South, I do think that these two hold different places and different roles in society. I guess the difference between tradition and racism in this case would be the difference between having all black staff members who are paid equally and having mostly black staff members and a few white staff members who get paid more.