• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • contact
    • privacy policy

Democracy Chronicles

How a Jim Crow Law Stacks the Deck Against Mississippi Democrats

By DC Editors - February 7, 2019 Leave a Comment

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

Stacks the Deck Against Mississippi DemocratsFrom Jeff Singer at Daily Kos:

Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood is running for governor of Mississippi this year, and as we’ve noted before, a Jim Crow-era law means that Hood could lose even if he wins the most votes on Election Day.​ That’s because the state’s 1890 constitution requires gubernatorial candidates to win both a majority of the statewide vote and a majority of the 122 districts that make up the state House.

How a Jim Crow Law Stacks the Deck Against Mississippi Democrats
Attorney General Jim Hood – Image source

If no candidate wins both the popular vote and a majority of districts, the state House, where Republicans hold a wide 74-48 majority, then picks a winner from the top two finishers. Given the GOP’s shamelessness in embracing undemocratic outcomes, it’s unlikely they’d choose Hood, even if he wins the most votes. And thanks to Mississippi’s gerrymandered map, which the GOP drew up in 2012, we know it’ll be difficult for Hood to carry 62 House seats. But just how difficult?

To answer that, we can look to the results of Mississippi’s 2015 statewide contests broken down by state House district, which the state has calculated. Because of serious insufficiencies in the data available from the state, Daily Kos Elections has not yet calculated the results of the 2016 presidential race by legislative district, and the state has not published results for the 2015 contests by state Senate district.

Thanks to Mississippi's 1890 Jim Crow constitution, Jim Hood (D) may need to win the popular vote for governor by >10% this fall to avoid having the gerrymandered GOP state House seat his opponent instead. This law's origin was racist & it should be challenged as unconstitutional https://t.co/dvMpsRwzNl

— Stephen Wolf (@PoliticsWolf) February 4, 2019

Read that full report at Daily Kos. A great overview of the history of Jim Crow laws is provided by who note that, “Jim Crow was a derisive slang term for a black man. It came to mean any state law passed in the South that established different rules for blacks and whites.” That article also notes some of the specific Jim Crow laws that were the law of the land for decades in many states:

By 1914, Texas had six entire towns in which blacks could not live. Mobile passed a Jim Crow curfew: Blacks could not leave their homes after 10 p.m. Signs marked “Whites Only” or “Colored” hung over doors, ticket windows, and drinking fountains. Georgia had black and white parks. Oklahoma had black and white phone booths. Prisons, hospitals, and orphanages were segregated as were schools and colleges. In North Carolina, black and white students had to use separate sets of textbooks. In Florida, the books couldn’t even be stored together.

What do you think about the Mississippi law in question? Add you comment below…

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

Filed Under: Democracy in America Tagged With: African-Americans and Democracy, American State Elections, Election History, Racism and Prejudice

About DC Editors

We are your source for news on the all important effort to establish and strengthen democracy across the globe. Our international team with dozens of independent authors are your gateway into the raging struggle for free and fair elections on every continent with a focus on election reform in the United States. See our Facebook Page and also follow us on Twitter @demchron.

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Transparency Europe Independent Politicians Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Syria Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home | AMERICA | How a Jim Crow Law Stacks the Deck Against Mississippi Democrats

Primary Sidebar

donate button

Would A Peace Prize To Greta Have Caused A Political Crisis?

By Mats Sederholm

On December 10, the Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded, and many have wanted Greta Thunberg to be the recipient. But would the world’s leaders really have been able to take in Greta’s message?

I Can’t Breathe, And Neither Can You

By Jack Jones

Captains and lieutenants have the duty to keep the peace but often see this as a carte blanche to “get rid of the riff-raff”. That’s what happened on that fateful day.

democracy chronicles newsletter

DC AUTHORS

Reconciliation will be crucial to the success of elections in Somalia in 2021

By Abdiweli Hassan

Despite great optimism, insecurity and a fractious political space mean reconciliation will be crucial to the success of elections in Somalia in 2021.

Returning Citizens Await Legal Rulings in Florida Voting Rights Case

By Steve Schneider

Attorneys for 17 Florida residents argue they can register to vote after they finish their prison sentence, and complete parole or probation. Not so, says the Republican governor.

When A House Is Not a Home

By Jack Jones

For both the Palestinians and Kurds, violence continues to happen in their houses. These wars being fought because of old grievances.

After a Month of Countrywide Protest, The Iraqi Prime Minister Resigns

By Thomas Manning

Iraqi protesters have now made sacrifices in large numbers to voice their dissent against the government and they still refuse to back down.

“The Kurds Were not in Normandy”: Distortion and Genocide in the Middle East

By Jack Jones

That Kurds were not in Normandy is a shameful distortion of truth. We abandoned our Kurdish allies for dubious motives, now they are facing genocide.

Finish Off Brexit And Stop Embarrassing The Democracy

By Mats Sederholm

It is 3½ years since Britons voted for an exit and still, the British Parliament has not been able to deliver what the voters decided.

Ready to Impeach

By Jack Jones

The day that Donald Trump installed Stephen Miller as Senior Advisor for Policy in his administration, we should have been prepared for impeachment.

MORE FROM OUR AUTHORS

VISIT OUR POLITICAL ART SECTION:

dc political art

DEMOCRACY CULTURE

Democrats Slam Engage Texas over advocacy on Texas Driver License Grounds

Democrats Slam Engage Texas over advocacy on Texas Driver License Grounds

Democrats have slammed GOP-affiliated Engage Texas over advocacy at Texas Driver License offices but DPS says grounds open to political speech.

Florida: felon voting restrictions to finally have day in court

Florida: felon voting restrictions to finally have day in court

Florida felon voting restrictions to finally have day in court. This comes after suing over Florida GOP-controlled legislature hook on felon voting rights

Meet the 17-Year-Old Creating "Turnout," a Mobilization App for Teen Activists

Meet the 17-Year-Old Creating “Turnout,” a Mobilization App for Teen Activists

Zev Dickstein Shapiro, a 17-year-old social entrepreneur from Cambridge, Massachusetts, is revolutionizing the social media game.

Podcast: A Democracy Summer Reading List

The hosts of the Democracy Works podcast review current books on democracy in this week’s podcast episode.

MORE CULTURE

VISIT OUR US DEMOCRACY SECTION:

American Democracy