GCB's: Good Christian Bigots

Last week the Mississippi primaries were held. The day almost went off without a hitch until it was later discovered that the ballots were incorrect in District 25 that allowed residents that were not supposed to vote help select the next representative for their district. Either at the beginning or end of the year, Secretary of State, Delbert Hoseman, released information with details about how the upcoming elections would be handled to ensure integrity in the election process. Well, not a month after his so-called election reform, there were two highly contested elections. One was the District 79 election where incumbent Blaine Eaton II and Mark Tullos settled the election results by drawing of straws; an event that was presided over by Gov. Phil Bryant and Delbert Hoseman. Eaton was declared the victor but in a strange twist of event, Tullos, a Republican, was not pleased with the drawing of lots and challenged the results by allowing a Republican majority to decide the outcome of the election. As a result, several affidavit ballots were not counted and the Republicans voted to declare Tullos as the victor which gave them the one representative they needed to have a Republican Supermajority. Prior to this election, there was another highly contested election in the City of Lumberton where several affidavit ballots were not counted because one of the mayoral candidates, Kent Crider, claimed that those casting the ballots were not eligible to vote because of felony records. Crider was later declared the victor, but he also had help from the Melene Wall, Mary Slaughter, Annelle McDade Carlisle and Linda Knight Martin; a group I call the Good Christian Bigots.

If you voted in the primary last week, you immediately noticed the difference between that election and the special election held in December and January. Immediately, it was noticeable that the group of poll workers were more diverse compared to what looked like a cross between a third world country voting process and a Klan rally. Somehow, we were able to vote without being required to stand behind a strip of tape placed on the floor while Merlene Wall, the grand wizard of bigots, instructed her minion, Linda KKKnight Martin, election commissioner, every step of the election. Keep in mind that Linda Martin has served as election commissioner for years but for the special election, she decided to take direction from a person that took a crash course in elections the week prior to the election. Noticeable absent last week were a couple of the Jim Crow gargoyles but Mary Slaughter and Shirley Barrett were there serving some serious side eye. I was surprised that I didn’t see Linda Knight Martin there waving her Confederate Battle Flag, while trying to tell me that I can’t take photos inside a voting precinct but because of photos printed in the Hattiesburg American, I identified individuals that no longer lived in Lumberton voting but none of the Good Christian Bigots said a word. It was my guess that was the reason why they wanted an all-white panel of poll workers.

I recall giving an account of the bigots that were monitoring the election and someone said I should be ashamed of myself for speaking so brutally about these God-fearing Christian B’s. Well, the person that made the comment may have went to church with them but all I saw was the faces of those that probably witnessed injustice all their lives and said nothing; just like they said nothing with one of their church members voted in the special election. Keep in mind that when black men were being hung from trees, taken from a local jail and beaten and lynched because he was accused of rape, when black people were served from the back door and a young black boy was killed for allegedly whistling at a white woman…there was no shortage of church services at the First Baptist Churches across the South. As a matter of fact, lynching’s typically happened after Sunday service. So there’s no doubt in my mind that those raised to revere these Good Christian Bigots will never think they did anything wrong despite Mary Slaughter’s proud claim that she tore up a ballot, despite Linda Knight Martin’s feeble attempt to pretend that she didn’t know the process for a special election, despite Melene’s refusal to allow poll watchers into the building but her husband was allowed inside.

The election is over and I everything went smoothly especially since Merlene and Linda were not there to f@$% it up. I guess they didn’t have anything on the line; during the primary election Merlene didn’t need to disenfranchise voters because her job wasn’t on the line. But in most instances when a black person is being sold out, there’s another black person lurking in the shadows willing to assist in any way and that distinction goes to Cora Rogers. She was the darkie that helped the good white folks steal the election because she told them that those casting affidavit ballots didn’t live within Lumberton’s city limits. Somehow that was later translated into them being convicted felons, according to Kent Crider. I may have a few more blog posts this week so stay tuned. I hope you don’t think I was too harsh but then again, who cares. Being crass, harsh, unapologetic and saying whatever you want is what propelled Donald Trump to the forefront of the Republican party. So consider this post my attempt to “Make Lumberton Great Again!” I hope Trump’s ideology is not widely accepted because he’s targeting minorities and mines is rejected because I dare to reveal the truth about your beloved Southern Belles. Surely, there’s not a double standard when it comes to telling it like it is. Or is it?