- The outcome of Jackson’s race for mayor could decide if Mississippi’s Capital City can be reborn, or if its descent continues.
When Jackson’s water system failed in August of 2022, my email and texts lit up with concerned friends from other parts of the country. It did not matter that we live half an hour from the Capital City with abundant clean water. To the rest of the nation, Jackson is Mississippi.
The state deserves a capital it can be proud of. A vibrant Jackson is good for all of us — including surrounding burb dwellers. Across the country, thriving states all have one thing in common: thriving cities.
What’s more, the people of our state’s most populous city deserve to live in a community that competently fills the basic functions of government.
People expect and deserve clean drinking water, safe streets, well-maintained infrastructure, and reliable garbage service. These are core functions in any successful municipality.
On each count, Jackson isn’t delivering. Following the water crisis, the state, and then the federal government, was forced to step in and take control. For the last few years, the city had the unfortunate distinction of being America’s murder capital — with more homicides per capita of any city with at least 130,000 residents.
Drive around Jackson for any length of time and your vehicle will need a realignment from its pot-marked roads. And a series of disputes between Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and the Jackson City Council has, at times, seen garbage stacked up on the curb.
To add insult to injury, overt incompetence is compounded by the specter of real corruption. One member of the Jackson City Council, Angelique Lee, already resigned and pled guilty to federal bribery charges. Her former colleague Aaron Banks pled not guilty to similar charges, and is awaiting trial with both Mayor Lumumba and Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens as co-defendants, for their roles in the alleged bribery scheme.
The indictments read like the plot of Donnie Brasco, complete with FBI planes and yachts, trips to Miami strip clubs and bags of cash. There are surveillance videos and wires. The hand is deep in the cookie jar.
Still, for all the failure and the cloud of corruption, Lumumba may be the prohibitive favorite going into Tuesday’s Democratic Primary.
In recent weeks, I’ve watched as certain Jackson provocateurs, newly friendly to Lumumba, have suggested that any criticism of Jackson is rooted in racism.
Simultaneously, these new media pundits argue that white Jacksonians — many of whom have invested millions of dollars establishing and growing businesses in the city — should have no input in the election. Under the disturbing logic pedaled, if a business owner like Jeff Good (hardly a right winger) says a candidate is worth a look, that immediately casts a pall on the authenticity of that candidate.
It’s an old, counter-productive canard. Jackson has real problems. Race-baiting does little to provide clean water, paved streets, and communities where a person doesn’t fear violence or theft when they step out the door.
The fact is that Jackson will elect a black Democrat mayor. That’s representative of both the city’s people and political values. Who that person is matters.
Jackson needs everyone, black and white, Democrat and Republican, if it is to succeed. And Mississippi needs Jackson to succeed.
Tuesday’s elections are an opportunity for Jacksonians. The outcome will provide a powerful signal to their fellow Mississippians. Competence invites confidence and confidence invites investment.
Russ Latino
