INTO NATIVISM, FORGETTING DEFAMED
DEFAMED DEFAMED, DISMISSED AND
DISRESPECTED.
DISRESPECTED. HURTING OUR COMMUNITIES AND OUR
ECONOMY.
ECONOMY. WE’RE BETTER THAN THAT AND I
KNOW I OWE MISSISSIPPI MORE THAN
I CAN SAY.
I WORKED TO CORRECT THE
STEREOTYPES AND ATTRACT
COMPANIES AND JOBS TO
MISSISSIPPI.
MISSISSIPPI. I WILL GIVE YOUNG PEOPLE A
GREATER SENSE OF RESPECT FOR
THEMSELVES AND OTHERS.
I’M MIKE ESPY AND I APPROVED
THIS MESSAGE BECAUSE I BELIEVE
THIS MISSISSIPPI AND IT’S TIME
TO SHOW THE NATION JUST HOW FAR
WE’VE COME.
WE’VE COME. >> THAT IS DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE
MIKE ESPY, HE WAS THE FIRST
AFRICAN-AMERICAN TO WIN A
CONGRESSIONAL SEAT IN
MISSISSIPPI SINCE RECONSTRUCTION
AND NOW HE’S TRYING TO BECOME
THE FIRST BLACK SENATOR IN
MISSISSIPPI SINCE RECONSTRUCTION
AS WELL.
AS WELL. JOINING US NOW NBC NEWS
CORRESPONDENT CAL PERRY WHO
RECENTLY TRAVELED TO MISSISSIPPI
AND FOLLOWED ESPY ON THE
CAMPAIGN TRAIL.
CAMPAIGN TRAIL. >> THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN VOTE
COULD BE THE DIFFERENCE MAKER IN
A NUMBER OF THESE RACES ACROSS
THE COUNTRY, MORE MIKE ESPY IT’S
PLAYING OUT ON HALLOWED GROUND.
>> ARE YOU GOING TO VOTE?
ALL RIGHT.
ALL RIGHT. YOU WILL VOTE FOR ME?
I’M GOING TO HELP EVERYBODY,
INCLUDING YOU.
INCLUDING YOU. >> THERE’S SOMETHING GOING ON
AROUND THE COUNTRY.
>> YES.
>> YES. >> SOME PEOPLE SAY IT’S A BLUE
WAVE.
WAVE. >> YES.
>> YES. >> IS MISSISSIPPI GOING TO
CONTINUE THAT OR DOES IT STOP IN
MISSISSIPPI?
MISSISSIPPI? YOU HAVE AN UPHILL CLIMB.
>> IT’S AN UPHILL CLIMB, BUT
I’VE CLIMBED UPHILL BEFORE.
>> ESPY IS THE FIRST BLACK SINCE
RECONSTRUCTION TO WIN A
CONGRESSIONAL SEAT FROM
MISSISSIPPI.
MISSISSIPPI. >> I AM EXCITED, APPRECIATIVE
AND HUMBLED TO BE ASKED TO SERVE
THIS NATION.
THIS NATION. >> SO WHERE HAS MISSISSIPPI
BEEN, WHERE ARE WE GOING AND ARE
YOU --
YOU -- >> WE’RE RIGHT HERE ON FERRY
STREET AND FERRY STREET REALLY
DURING THE JIM CROW ERA WAS A
BLACK MECCA OF MISSISSIPPI.
SO IT’S FALLING A LITTLE BIT NOW
INTO DISREPAIR AND I’M GLAD THAT
YOU DECIDED TO HAVE THIS
INTERVIEW IN THIS RESTAURANT
THAT HAS BEEN HERE SINCE 1939
BECAUSE IT SHOWS WHERE WE’VE
BEEN AND WHERE WE HAVE TO GET TO
AGAIN WITH A LITTLE BIT OF
ATTENTION, WITH A LITTLE BIT OF
A CONCENTRATION WITH SOMEONE WHO
REALLY CARES ABOUT THE ECONOMIC
STATUS OF MISSISSIPPIANS AND I’M
TALKING ABOUT NOT JUST BLACK BUT
ALL MISTIANS.
ALL MISTIANS. I DON’T LOOK AT RACE SO MUCH AS
I LOOK AT ECONOMIC
POSSIBILITIES, COMMON GROUND FOR
EVERYONE REGARDLESS OF RACE.
>> THIS IS VERY MUCH IN LINE
WITH THE IDEAS OF FANNIE LOU
NAMER.
NAMER. >> ARE YOU AFRAID OF BEING
KILLED?
KILLED? >> I THINK ABOUT IT SOMETIMES.
>> IN WHAT WAY?
>> WHEN SOMEBODY CALL AND SAY,
WE HAVE YOU LOCATED, WE GOING TO
PUT YOU IN MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
>> TALK TO ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT
MISSISSIPPI.
MISSISSIPPI. WHY DO AFRICAN-AMERICANS NEED TO
GET OUT AND VOTE IN THIS
ELECTION?
ELECTION? >> BECAUSE IT’S IMPORTANT FOR
US.
US. YOU KNOW --
>> ABOUT 40 YARDS AWAY A SNIPER
FIRED A SINGLE SHOT FROM A HIGH
POWERED RIFLE.
POWERED RIFLE. >> HE DIED FOR US AND WHEN HE
DIED FIGHTING FOR US I DON’T
MISS A VOTE.
I VOTE.
I VOTE. >> AND WE ARE SAYING TO
MISSISSIPPI, GIVE US THE BALLOT.
GIVE US THE BALLOT AND WE WILL
TRANSFORM THE MISDEEDS OF BLOOD
THIRSTY MOBS INTO THE CALCULATED
GOOD DEEDS OF ORDERLY CITIZENS.
>> MEN KNOW NIGHTS, I DON’T KNOW
IF I WOULD GET BACK HOME OR NOT
AND WE BROKE THE BARRIER AND WE
ARE THERE NOW.
>> WE ARE GOING TO MAKE THIS OLD
BROKE DOWN MISSISSIPPI A NEW
MISSISSIPPI.
MISSISSIPPI. >> HOW DO WE REMIND THE NEXT
GENERATION OF HOW IMPORTANT THE
SACRIFICES WERE?
SACRIFICES WERE? >> BY EDUCATING THEM.
WE HAVE TO TELL THE STORIES.
WE HAVE TO SHOW THEM THE WAY TO
THE POLL.
THE POLL. WE HAVE TO TAKE THEM.
MY HUSBAND PUT HIS LIFE ON THE
LINE DAILY, NOT KNOWING IF HE’S
GOING TO COME BACK HOME BECAUSE
HE WAS TRYING TO EDUCATE PEOPLE
TO VOTE.
TO VOTE. GOING ON PLANTATIONS AT NIGHT
AFTER THE BOSS MEN HAVE GONE TO
BED, REGISTERING PEOPLE TO VOTE.
GETTING THEM TO LEARN HOW TO
WRITE THEIR NAME FOR THE FIRST
TIME.
TIME. >> THIS RACE DOES GO THROUGH A
BLACK COMMUNITY, I’M NOT
CONTENDING THAT IT DOESN’T.
>> THERE’S SOMETHING HAPPENING
IN THE SOUTH.
THERE’S A NEW SOUTH THAT’S
RISING.
RISING. WE ARE NOT GOING BACK TO THE OLD
SOUTH.
SOUTH. THIS IS A NEW SOUTH THAT IS
INCLUSIVE TO EVERYBODY.
>> SOMETIMES I’M HOPEFUL AND
SOMETIMES I DOUBT IT.
BUT EVENTUALLY IT’S GOING TO
HAPPEN.
HAPPEN. >> SO THIS IS A THREE-WAY RACE
AND IT WILL BE UNTIL NOVEMBER
6th AT WHICH POINT TWO
CANDIDATES WILL GO OFF UNTIL
NOVEMBER 7th.
NOVEMBER 7th. THIS IS OUR STORY, THIS IS
AMERICA’S STORY, THIS IS ALL THE
MORE REASON TO GET OUT AND VOTE.
MAYBE WITH DONALD TRUMP WE HAD
TO HIT ROCK BOTTOM BEFORE WE
COULD REBUILD, I’M NOT SURE.
>> EDDIE, YOU ARE A MISSISSIPPI
NATIVE.
NATIVE. THE LATEST POLL HAS CINDY HIDE
SMITH AT 38, MIKE ESPY AT 29,
CHRIS McDANIEL AT 15.
WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE
DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE STATE THAT
YOU COME FROM, 37%
AFRICAN-AMERICAN POPULATION, THE
HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF ANY STATE
IN THE COUNTRY.
IF THERE IS TURNOUT IN THIS
STATE MIKE ESPY HAS A CHANCE.
>> HE SAID HE HAS A STEEP HILL
TO CLIMB BUT HE HAS CLIMBED
HILLS BEFORE.
HILLS BEFORE. THERE IS A WONDERFUL LINE THAT
WE HAVE TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE AND
WE HAVE A HISTORY OF DOING THE
IMPOSSIBLE.
IMPOSSIBLE. YOU KNOW, I COME FROM A STATE
THAT ITS SOIL IS SOAKED IN
BLOOD, YOU KNOW, THERE’S FANNIE
LU NAMER, I’M THINKING ABOUT ALL
OF THOSE UNSUNG HEROES AND
HEROINES THAT MADE ME POSSIBLE.
THIS ELECTION IS MORE THAN JUST
ABOUT MIKE ESPY, IT’S ABOUT OUR
DEMOCRACY AND, YOU KNOW, WE’VE
BEEN IN SO MANY WAYS CLARION
CALL FOR IT.
SO WE WILL SEE IF WE TURN OUT.
IF BLACK FOLK TURN OUT IN THE
UNITED STATES ACROSS THESE
DISTRICTS WE CAN CHANGE THE
DIRECTION OF THE COUNTRY AND AS
ALWAYS MISSISSIPPI IS A METAPHOR
FOR AMERICA.
FOR AMERICA. WE WILL SEE.
WE WILL SEE.
>> WELL, I WILL TELL YOU WHAT,
JOHN MEACHAM, BLACK VOTERS
CERTAINLY SHOWED UP IN ALABAMA
LAST YEAR.
LAST YEAR. I HAD ALABAMA OFFICIALS TELLING
ME EVEN ON ELECTION NIGHT THAT
THE TURNOUT WASN’T BIG ENOUGH TO
PUT DOUG JONES OVER THE TOP, BUT
THEN THE BLACK BELT, AS IT’S
CALLED, ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA
CAME OUT IN NUMBERS AS HIGH
AS -- THEY CAME OUT FOR BARACK
OBAMA IN 2008 AND 2012.
THAT IN AND OF ITSELF ONE OF THE
MOST EXTRAORDINARY POLITICAL
EVENTS THAT’S HAPPENED SINCE
DONALD TRUMP WAS ELECTED.
>> TWO THOUGHTS.
ONE IS 50 YEARS AGO, 13 DAYS
FROM NOW, GEORGE WALLACE CARRIED
MISSISSIPPI IN THE PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION, WON 13.5% OF THE
NATIONAL VOTE AND CARRIED FIVE
STATES, EXPLICITLY
STATES, EXPLICITLY SEGREGATIONIST AND NATIONALIST
PLATFORM.
PLATFORM. 50 YEARS IS A LONG TIME AGO AND
IN ANOTHER SENSE IT’S THE DAY
BEFORE YESTERDAY.
BEFORE YESTERDAY. THE OLDER I GET THE MORE IT
SEEMS LIKE THE DAY BEFORE
YESTERDAY.
YESTERDAY. THE OTHER THOUGHT HERE IS, YOU
KNOW, WHAT WE’RE SEEING WITH
GEORGIA AND THE SECRETARY OF
STATE WHO SAYS HE WILL
ADJUDICATE HIS OWN ELECTION AND
QUESTIONS ABOUT VOTER
SUPPRESSION, IT’S A REMINDER
THAT THE MOST SIGNIFICANT AND
THE BLOODIEST STRUGGLE IN MANY
WAYS WAS NOT JUST AGAINST JIM
CROW AND PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS
BUT FOR THE RIGHT TO VOTE.
>> EXACTLY.
>> EXACTLY. >> AND IT’S WHAT -- AND IF YOU
ARE IN GEORGIA OR ALABAMA OR
MISSISSIPPI OR ARKANSAS OR
TENNESSEE, FLORIDA, THIS WAS THE
GREAT STRUGGLE TO THE GREAT
DOMESTIC DRAMA OF THE 20th
CENTURY.
CENTURY. WE WERE ABLE TO DEFEAT TYRANNY
ABROAD MORE EASILY IN SOME WAYS
THAN WE WERE AT HOME.
IT SEEMS TO ME ONE OF THE
REASONS I’M ULTIMATELY HOIPFUL
ABOUT THE REPUBLIC IS THAT OUR
MISSION IS TO CREATE A MORE
PERFECT UNION, NOT A PERFECT
ONE, BUT IT BEGINS, AS JOHN
LEWIS WOULD TELL US, WITH THE
FRANCHISE, WITH THE VOTE.
I THINK -- I THINK WE -- I THINK
WE’VE -- WE DISMISS THE GRAVITY
OF THOSE STRUGGLES TOO GLIBLY
SOMETIMES AND I THINK WE ARE IN
THIS MOMENT WHERE THERE IS SUCH
A LACK OF SERIOUSNESS FROM THE
WHITE HOUSE ABOUT THESE ISSUES
THAT I THINK ULTIMATELY, AS YOU
SAY, JOE, IT’S GOING TO BE A
MOTIVATOR, NOT A SUPPRESSOR.
I HOPE SO.
>> IT IS GOING TO BE A MOTIVATOR
AND IF YOU LOOK AT WHAT JOHN
LEWIS WROTE YESTERDAY TALKING
ABOUT THE SACRIFICES THAT HE
MADE, JOHN LEWIS SAYING, I HAVE
BEEN BEATEN, MY SKULL FRACTURED,
AND ARRESTED MORE THAN 40 TIMES
SO THAT EACH AND EVERY PERSON
HAS THE RIGHT TO REGISTER AND
VOTE.
VOTE. FRIENDS OF MINE GAVE THEIR
LIVES.
LIVES. DO YOUR PART.
GET OUT THERE AND VOTE LIKE
YOU’VE NEVER VOTED BEFORE.
#VOTE, #GOODTROUBLE.
#VOTE, #GOODTROUBLE. YAMICHE, SO MUCH DOES DEPEND ON
WHO DECIDES TO GO OUT AND VOTE.
WHAT SEGMENT OF AMERICA DECIDES
TO GO OUT AND VOTE.
WHICH SEGMENTS ARE THE MOST
MOTIVATED.
MOTIVATED. THAT WILL DETERMINE OUR FUTURE
OR SHAPE OUR FUTURE.
>> IT WILL ABSOLUTELY SHAPE OUR
FUTURE.
FUTURE. I THINK PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY
AFRICAN-AMERICANS THAT I’VE
TALKED TO IN THE LAST COUPLE
WEEKS, THEY UNDERSTAND THE
STRUGGLE, THEY UNDERSTAND WHAT
IT MEANS TO GET OUT THE RIGHT TO
VOTE AND WHAT PEOPLE HAD TO
SACRIFICE TO GET -- TO ALLOW
AFRICAN-AMERICANS TO VOTE.
THE THING THAT I WILL SAY,
THOUGH, IS THAT WHEN THE
PRESIDENT IS USING THESE
NATIONALIST TERMS, HE’S DOING
THAT BECAUSE HE’S TRYING TO GET
HIS PEOPLE OUT TO VOTE.
HE’S TRYING TO COUNTER THE WAVE
THAT WE KNOW IS COMING IN TAERNS
BECAUSE FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS
PEOPLE HAVE WATCHED THE
PRESIDENT USE LANGUAGE THAT THIS
HE FOUND TO BE DEEPLY OFFENSIVE
AND RACIST AND THEN THERE ARE
THE PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT THE
PRESIDENT WHO SAY THAT’S A
DISTRACTION THAT HE’S NOT
SOMEONE WHO IS USING THAT
LANGUAGE, BUT WHAT I WILL SAY IS
ALSO THIS, AFTER ALABAMA THERE
WAS THIS FEELING THAT BLACK
PEOPLE SAVED ALABAMA, THAT THEIR
VOTE WAS THE REASON WHY DOUG
JONES CAME INTO OFFICE, BUT I
THINK THERE IS SOMETHING THAT’S
VERY DANGEROUS ABOUT THAT WHICH
IS THAT THERE ARE
AFRICAN-AMERICANS WHO SAY DON’T
BLAME THE SENATE NOT GOING TO
DEMOCRATS ON AFRICAN-AMERICANS
NOT TURNING OUT, AS IF 50% OF
THE COUNTRY DOESN’T TURN OUT.
THERE ARE WHITE PEOPLE WHO WATCH
THE TV AND THEY DON’T TURN OUT
AND THEY DON’T GET BLAMED WHEN
DOUG JONES DOESN’T WIN.
IN THIS CASE AS MUCH AS THERE IS
THIS IMPORTANCE FOR BLACK PEOPLE
TO GO OUT AND VOTE, THERE SHOULD
ALSO BE THE DAY AFTER THE
ELECTION A CAREFUL LOOK AT HOW
WE TALK ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE
VOTING BECAUSE IF STACY ABRAMS
DOESN’T WIN IT’S BECAUSE A LOT
OF WHITE PEOPLE MAY HAVE TURNED
OUT AND NOT SO MUCH THAT BLACK
PEOPLE DIDN’T DO ENOUGH.
>> YAMICHE AND CAL PERRY, THANK
YOU FOR THAT REPORT.
WE WILL BE RIGHT BACK.