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Jackson's population consists primarily of an African American community, with over 82% of the city's population being a part of it. By comparison less than 1% of the overall population is American Indian. (City-Data.com)

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Jackson, Mississippi had a problem acquiring clean water for the better part of a month due to a large winter storm in early 2021. However, the problem goes much deeper than the local weather. Jackson residents were forced to fend for themselves and find their own clean water due to the government's lack of aid. There are many who feel as though the city's largely African American population could be to blame, and believe the government may have acted sooner if it were a primarily white community instead.

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Jackson, Mississippi Went Without Clean Water for Over a Month

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These water problems have been said to have started well before the storm of 2021, and there is evidence to suggest there has been a history of shaky relations between state legislature and the city of Jackson for many years already. Ronnie Crudup, a bishop at New Horizon Church in Jackson, went on to say that these tensions began as soon as the city's population became predominantly African American, and it has been a much greater struggle to receive any sort of investment from the state government ever since.

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/ CBS News

Last February, as back-to-back winter storms buried the deep south in snow and ice, some residents in Jackson, Mississippi, found themselves facing an additional hardship. They had no water running water for weeks.

Ronnie Crudup, a bishop at New Horizon Church in the city, said he was without water for 18 days.

"This [winter storm] was one of the worst in the central part of Mississippi, we don't get a lot of cold weather, and so that made us very, very susceptible," Crudup told 60 Minutes+ correspondent Wesley Lowery. "I had never experienced a point where I saw no water come out of the pipes."

But even without the winter weather, Crudup said, the city's water infrastructure constantly fails its residents.

"If you drive through the city, you're going to see all this water coming up... because the infrastructure is old and decrepit," Crudup said. "It has not been maintained well."

60 Minutes+'s Lowery reports this week on the confluence of race and politics underlying Jackson's deteriorating water system, which is badly in need of an overhaul.

"White flight" in the 70s and 80s created a vicious cycle that saw businesses close in Jackson, prompting cuts in city services due to a lack of tax revenue. Over that time, Jackson went from being 60% White to nearly 60% Black. Now, more than 80% of the city's 160,000 inhabitants are Black.

State officials have developed a reportedly rocky relationship with the city, leading to a lack of investment from the state legislature. Bishop Ronnie Crudup thinks that the city's new racial makeup is likely a factor in its strained relationship with the state.

"You would want your capital city hopefully to be a shining star. You know, sometimes the State and the city legislation and all those folks, they're anti-Jackson, okay?" Crudup said. "Once Jackson became predominantly Black, it had Black leadership-- then it seemed to be a level of tension between the state government and Jackson that may not have been there, okay? That may not be true, but that's sure how I and a number of other folks perceive it...."

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, who at 34 was elected the youngest leader in city history, seemed to agree.

"I think that we would be less than honest with ourselves if we did not... just directly confront the issues of race that we have in Mississippi and in the United States," Lumumba said.

Meanwhile, city residents are forced to deal with water outages and advisories to boil their water before cooking, washing their hands or brushing their teeth. The city's public works department can't keep up with the leaks across the city's hundreds of miles of pipes that are, in some cases, brittle to the touch.
See the report on 60 Minutes+, streaming now only on Paramount+.

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Race, politics, and the crumbling water infrastructure in Mississippi's capital city

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CBS News Last February, as back-to-back winter storms buried the deep south in snow and ice, some residents in Jackson, Mississippi, found themselves facing an additional hardship. They had no water running water for weeks. Ronnie Crudup, a bishop at New Horizon Church in the city, said he was without water for 18 days.

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The Jackson Public School district is the largest and only public school district in Jackson, and the second largest district in the state of Mississippi. This district serves nearly 21,000 scholars and is responsible for the education of the entire population of Jackson. The district also contains a variety of special programs for its students to partake in. These programs were designed in a way that is meant to accommodate a diverse range of students that encompass all races and ethnic groups. I do not think the Jackson Public School district needs to create a specific anti-racist statement, as I believe they are already putting forth a significant amount of effort alongside the Jackson Association of Educators to ensure every student is represented equally.

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Based on an international standard that includes accelerated language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and foreign language curricula, the International Baccalaureate Programme in JPS offers instruction for scholars in grades K-5 through the Primary Years Programme, for scholars in grades 6-10 through the Middle Years Programme, and for scholars in grades 11-12 through the Diploma Programme.

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The people working towards a better future

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The people working towards a better future

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The Jackson Association of Educators are a group with a goal of ensuring the best possible education for the youth of the city of Jackson despite an overall lack of funding from the state. They are responsible for spreading a positive message to the community that there really are people out there who wish to help their children achieve a better future.  President George Stewart II and Vice President Joice Greer are at the helm of this effort.

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Young people in Jackson making a difference

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Young people in Jackson making a difference

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23 year old Jarrius Adams is a young man attempting to make a difference for African Americans in the Jackson community. Adams is the president of the Young Democrats of Mississippi organization, a group whose purpose is to put power into the hands of the younger generation by encouraging them to vote. This is done all over the country, but in Jackson it also serves as a way for the African American community to stand up to the state legislature and make Jackson a better place.

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Discouraged. Angry. Disappointed. There aren't enough adjectives to describe Jarrius Adams' mood following the presidential election results on Nov. 4, 2016. The Oxford, Miss., resident thought about the individuals he had organized with in North Carolina, New York and Mississippi. For a moment, he lost hope.

"One thing that made me stop crying the next day is when I thought to myself how selfish I was being. Not saying people aren't valid in their emotions. But I felt like if I'm upset about this imagine how Hillary Cilnton feels," he told the Mississippi Free Press.

He said Clinton's fire to continue the fight despite her loss restored his hope and he knew he had to continue to rally and fight.

Adams, 23, is the president of Young Democrats of Mississippi, a chapter of the Young Democrats of America which is the largest youth-led partisan political organization in the nation. YDA mobilizes young people under the age of 36 to participate in the election process to elect Democrats and advocate for progressive issues.

The organization has been working hard this year to get voters to the polls, organizing digitally in light of the pandemic, he said.

"We'll be rolling out a lot of GOTV videos," the president told the Mississippi Free Press this week "We have worked with candidates to connect them with students on campus when they have events. We've connected volunteers. We did a phone bank earlier where we reached 50,000 contacts on a Saturday. We've hosted candidates over the summer."

Politics and voting were not topics discussed in Adams' household or lessons taught in school, he said. At that time, his family didn't vote, discouraged with politics in Mississippi. It was until his freshman year at the University of Mississippi that his interest in politics was piqued and he got involved with Democratic and progressive movements on campus, he said.

"I worked on the Initiative 42 campaign in 2015 and I saw the disparity in the education system across the state of Mississippi," he said. "A lot of it had to do with politics and policy or the lack thereof, so I got more involved and realized that all issues revolve around policy from Medicaid to public education to clear air, taxes.

Initiative 42 was a failed attempt to force the Mississippi Legislature to follow state law and fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Act .

Despite stereotypes that young people aren't interested in politics or voting, Adams said that isn't the case. This year, Young Democrats of America has placed young people into various campaigns that are hiring for interns across the country, he said.

"I think with all the things that have happened from the deaths to the murders, the appointments to the Supreme Court, all of the absurd and egregious things that have happened have woken people up, especially young people," he said.

The Young Republicans Federation is an organization geared toward young people on the other side of the political aisle.

Though the younger generation has been using social media as a helpful tool to vent their frustrations and disseminate information, going to the ballot box is also important, Adams said.

"You do not want to wake up on November 4 and feel the way you felt after the election in 2016. You have to do all that you can. And maybe after you vote, you still don't feel like your vote matters, but at least you did everything in your individual capacity to change something in our nation," Adams added.

'We Gotta Get Back Up'

Tougaloo College Senior Biology major Taylor Turnage got into politics during former President Barack Obama's era. She was in middle school at the time, but seeing a Black person get to that high of a position motivated her to learn the ins and outs of politics.

The first time the Byram, Miss., resident voted was during the 2016 election and she can remember the night of the election as vividly as people remember 9/11, she said.

"We had a watch party that night for the results. After a while, we just ended the party because it was going to take all night. Some of us went back to the dorms and watched it in the lobby. We stayed up until 2 in the morning waiting for the results to come out because we couldn't grasp that he was in the lead," Turnage told the Mississippi Free Press.

The senior said seeing the electoral college, a political institution rooted in a racist history , overpower the popular vote was disheartening for her and many of her peers, who were also first-time voters. The hardest thing has been trying to restore faith in her peers who don't want to vote again after the 2016 election.

"I like to live by the saying 'without failure, there is no success.' I look at the last time as like we failed, but we gotta get back up. Say you go out for a job and you don't get the job. Are you just going to stop looking for a job or are you going to look for another job?" she said.

Turnage is the state president for the youth and college division of the and a co-founder of , two organizations rallying around the presidential election to get voters out to the polls.

"Our (organization) is geared towards ages from birth to 35 years old. We're very into political change and making up a political home for Black people in Mississippi. The way to do that most of the time is through political change," Turnage said of BLM Sip.

Back in June, BLM Sip hosted and organized the massive protest in downtown Jackson on June 6, 2020, following the police killing of George Floyd and the shooting of Breonna Taylor. The organization also joined the fight to help get the Mississippi flag, with its Confederate canton , taken down.

"I know for the NAACP we have been working nationally and locally. Each college campus here in Mississippi has been working with their campus to get voter registration out before the deadline. We have been giving out voter information, t-shirts, voter cards to make sure people know when to vote," Turnage said.

She has also hosted voting events with her sorority Delta Sigma Theta Incorporated at the Gamma Psi Chapter of Tougaloo College. The biology major said she thinks that the climate this year has made you people more interested in voting.

"It's made people more aware of why we need to vote and the effects can take place depending on who is in office," Turnage said. "It just opens people's eyes to how important that one position is and how it can affect the country as a whole."

The new wave of young people delving into the political realm shows that it's not just the older generation of 60- or 70-year-old white men infiltrating those spaces anymore, Turnage said.

"A lot of the time we can't relate to that," she said. "Sometimes when you have a younger person who is from where you're from and has been through the things you've been through and you know they're fighting for people like you, it hits differently. It means more."
Also see MFP's Mississippi Trusted Elections Project, focusing on access to the polls and voting access in Mississippi. Visit the site to view several infographics and continually updated maps of voting precincts, absentee vote totals and precinct changes across Mississippi.

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Young Mississippi Organizers Pivot from Anti-Racism Protests to Getting Out the Vote

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Discouraged. Angry. Disappointed. There aren't enough adjectives to describe Jarrius Adams' mood following the presidential election results on Nov. 4, 2016. The Oxford, Miss., resident thought about the individuals he had organized with in North Carolina, New York and Mississippi. For a moment, he lost hope.

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If I were personally responsible for teaching a diverse group of students effectively, my approach would be quite simple: I would do my absolute best to treat every individual equally. Not only this but I would also take the time to learn each student's strengths and weaknesses in order to help them succeed in their learning environment. I believe this is important, as it prevents a teacher from overlooking some critical detail that a student may be struggling with.

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The land Jackson, Mississippi  was built on formerly belonged to the Choctaw Native Americans, who were the largest group located in the Mississippi area until the 1700's. Even to this day the Choctaw still comprise the majority of the American Indian population not only in the city of Jackson but also the state of Mississippi itself. Other Native American tribes who lived in the area as well include the Acolapissa, Biloxi, Pascagoula, Bayougoula, Houma, Natchez, Chakchiuma, Ibitoupa, Koroa, Ofogoula, Taposa, Tiou, Tunica and Yazoo tribes.

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Mississippi, once home to a greater variety of indigenous tribes than any other southeastern state, is celebrating its Native American heritage during the month of July.

Though many people are familiar with places throughout the state that hold Native American names - including Yalobusha, Itawamba and Mississippi itself - few realize just how many native peoples made their home in Mississippi. Up into the 1700s, local tribes included the Acolapissa, Biloxi and Pascagoula tribes on the Gulf Coast; the Bayougoula, Houma and Natchez tribes on the lower Mississippi; and the Chakchiuma, lbitoupa, Koroa, Ofogoula, Taposa, Tiou, Tunica and Yazoo tribes on the Yazoo River in the Mississippi Delta. The original Mississippians were most likely the Choctaw, who date back to the early 1500s. The Choctaw were the most populous by far and remain so to this day.

Visitors to the region can immerse themselves in Choctaw culture by stopping by the Choctaw Heritage Museum or attending the annual Choctaw Indian Fair, held every summer in July. This regionally renowned event is host to the World Champion Stickball Games and includes a celebration of tribal music, crafts and traditions.

If you want to come face-to-face with the most impressive landmarks of the ancient past, plan a visit to Mississippi's mound sites, showcasing well-preserved, Native American mounds built of earth. These mounds were the centers of daily and spiritual life, and you can find sites remaining across the state. Among the most visited are the Winterville Mound site, located in Greenville, and the Pocahontas Mound A, located north of Jackson. See a full listing of mound sites here.

Recently, The Mississippi Department of Archives and History celebrated the grand opening of the Mississippi Mound Trail. Stretching from Desoto County to Wilkinson County and following the Highway 61 corridor, the trail will highlight earthworks built at thirty-three sites. Four sites-Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, Pocahontas Rest Area and Welcome Center, Winterville Mounds, and Emerald Mound on the Natchez Trace Parkway- are state or federally operated and open to the public. Visitors are welcome to walk among the mounds and learn more through interpretive signs and exhibits. All are free.

For more information on Mississippi heritage and history, go to www.visitmississippi.org.

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Native Americans - The Original Mississippians - Visit Mississippi

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Mississippi, once home to a greater variety of indigenous tribes than any other southeastern state, is celebrating its Native American heritage during the month of July. Though many people are familiar with places throughout the state that hold Native American [...]

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It is no secret that the state of Mississippi has had a longstanding history of racism within the United States, and was a major player in the Confederate States during the Civil War. Even after the war was over and slavery was abolished there have been many cases of racism against African Americans that have continued to take place even to this day. There was a point in time where African American lynching's would be held as public entertainment similar to how we go to see a movie today. Thankfully these do not occur anymore, but it still does not prevent needless African American deaths at the hands of white people within the state of Mississippi and the city of Jackson.

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Mississippi and Racism: The Reoccurring Problem