- Collection:
- Southern Journey Oral History Collection
- Title:
- Mississippi - Canton: Annie Devine and Jewel Williams Interviewees
- Contributor to Resource:
- Dent, Thomas C.
- Date of Original:
- 1992-02-28
- Subject:
- African Americans
Businesspeople
Civil rights
Economics
Education
Race relations - Location:
- United States, Mississippi, Hinds County, Jackson, 32.29876, -90.18481
United States, Mississippi, Lauderdale County, Meridian, 32.36431, -88.70366
United States, Mississippi, Madison County, Canton, 32.61264, -90.03675 - Medium:
- sound recordings
- Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- audio/mpeg
- Description:
- Tom Dent interviews Annie DeVine and Jewel Williams in Canton, Mississippi. They discuss various NAACP leaders including Reverend Johnson. They discuss the debate over the Meridian school system between Rice and Simmons. DiVine and Williams say they both tried to stay out of the debate but their arguments generally agree with Rice's points. They discuss the upcoming election; they would like to see more Blacks on the Board. They discuss the changing demographics of the county, which is still a majority Black but with a growing number of wealthy Whites moving into the south. They are glad to see more money come into the county but are worried about the divided school system and its effects on political elections. They discuss Canton; DiVine says she has no interest in it because it "has no fight." She says the continued racial divide is due to the failing economics of the city. The railroad had helped drive the economy but it was diverted and Canton has suffered since. DiVine suggests that Canton develop more to the West, towards the highway. Dent says it will most likely become a bedroom community for Jackson. DiVine agrees, saying Jackson has been growing a lot lately. Williams states there are a number of White children in the community that are not accounted for in the school system in Canton. She thinks that White parents are driving them into Jackson so they can go to the White schools there. They discuss a particular school in the Canton school system where, Williams says, a lot of the teachers are bunt-outs and a lot of the students are discipline problems. The facilities themselves are deplorable; DiVine says there are prisons that look better. They believe more parent involvement would help. Dent asks about a controversial statue in Canton dedicated after the civil war to "The Faithful Negro." Williams states that there has been no effort to remove it. DiVine says Blacks will only rise when Whites start the movement. They will seldom do so for a Black leader.
- Metadata URL:
- https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane:54090
- Contributing Institution:
- Amistad Research Center
- Rights:
-
