Week One

Mississippi River flooding, Greenville, MS. 5/28/11

Simmons High School Graduation, Hollandale, MS. 5/29/11

Six days ago I departed Bethesda, Maryland and began my journey to Oxford, Mississippi. In the time since, I have enjoyed traditional Mississippi fare, sought shelter from a tornado, toured the Delta, and visited the B.B. King Museum in Indianola. However, most importantly, I have begun to see the fundamental connections between race, poverty, and education in Mississippi. Whether walking down the street in Greenville or simply driving through the campus of Ole Miss, it is remarkably evident that the “past” is very much a part of the present. The history of race in Mississippi is clearly inherent to life in Oxford and throughout the Delta, seen both in the Colonel Reb debate and vast inequality of academic opportunity.

            One thing that drew me to this internship, and has proven very gratifying thus far, is the sheer novelty of such an experience. Both the Deep South and teaching were previously foreign to me, and in many ways still are, which is why every day is a new adventure. Huckleberry Finn rode down the Mississippi River; I attended graduation at Simmons High School in Hollandale, Mississippi. That inability to anticipate and lack of prior perspective is exactly what will make this internship profoundly defining. Additionally, it is clear to me after a week in Oxford that the only way to understand the obstacles at hand in the Mississippi public education system is to see them in person. For it is not just a story about facilities, jobs, and books, but also families, personal histories, and long-standing emotions.      

            I learned a great deal this past week. At the Crown Restaurant in Indianola I learned that catfish, when breaded with parmesan and topped with melted butter, can be quite delicious and at the B.B. King Museum I learned the origins of blues. But I also learned that Edgar Ray Killen was not the last civil rights criminal walking the streets and segregationist academies still infect communities. Much lies ahead of me these next two months and if the first week is any indicator, there will be no dearth of opportunities to learn about education, poverty, and race in Mississippi and where I fit, morally and socially. In the words of Simon and Garfunkel, "I've gone to look for America," a critical part of which is right here in Mississippi.