/Small enough to work against its own good’ In Natchez, old fears fuel doubt about the future

Small enough to work against its own good’ In Natchez, old fears fuel doubt about the future

“They won’t study. Browning spoke of the students at Natchez High. The community rejected a tax increase that would have funded $34million in bonds and lease agreements for the construction of a new high school as well as repairs to existing buildings. A chancery court judge declared this summer that the bonds were legal, in spite of the vote. A Natchez resident appealed the decision to the state Supreme Court. Browning stated, “And it seems like they’re going get our damn money anyway.” Browning is a retired man with gravelly voice and a stomach that presses against the sides of his red T shirt. He’s drinking beers around noon with two other men. The watering hole overlooks the river and is located in an old building in a town that is well-known for its historic buildings. Brian Simpson laughed and said, “Yeah. Just build ’em new schools, it will make everything better.” Simpson is a former farmer who has become a crop insurance adjuster. He wears a cap over the top of his red hair and is consuming a Michelob Ultra with three bars stools down. Aylett Dicks has put down his Budweiser, and is grinning. Dicks is a Natchezian who has lived his whole life. His thick, black hair looks more like a lumberjack than an archaeologist. “The problem is not in the school buildings. It’s the teachers’ pay. Dicks stated that it is the class size. Mississippi Today reporters traveled across the state in the months leading to Election Day to talk to citizens about issues that were important to them. On a Tuesday in September, while national conversations revolve around midterm elections, local conversation is largely kept to the local level. The bar is focused on political issues such as crime, schools, and the hotly contested race for a local judge. The town feels like it is a small, isolated place despite its central location on the Mississippi River. Residents say the closest interstate is over an hour away. This is one reason the town has struggled in recent decades to attract industry. “The industry died out. Browning leaned forward on his stool, stating that the industry died and that they didn’t do anything about it. “No, they did. They did. But it failed badly. Every time they tried to bring any industry up here …,” Dicks trailed off. You’d be surprised at the number of broken promises. …” Simpson raises his voice to end the diatribe on local developers. Dicks nods. He said, paraphrasing an article, “We’re about 90 jobs and this/that,” It’s the boy that cried wolf. Simpson stated that you are immune to this now. What is the most important job we have had in the past decade? How about building a huge fucking hotel? Also, a casino. Dicks stated that while it was great, it did not create any real jobs. Everybody is speaking at once, and their words overlap. In Natchez, the lack of industry continues to be a problem. The unemployment rate in Adams County (where Natchez is the county seat) was 6.5% as of August. This is more than 40 percent above the state rate which stands at 4.6 percent. Adams County is not the only one in economic trouble. Jefferson County has the highest unemployment rate at 14.3 percent. However, Natchez’s historical grandeur may help to make Adams’ current situation more visible. Browning nodded, saying that there were more millionaires per capita in America before the Civil War. This refers to the wealth built by the town’s slave trade. Simpson and Dicks laughed when asked if this still holds today. Simpson replied, “I would say no.” These economic worries are underpinned by racial anxieties. Adams County is 54% African American. However, the Natchez-Adams district’s public schools is over 90% African American. According to the men, most of the white children in the county attend either the parochial or private school. These schools, like many Mississippi academies, were established in the wake of integration. Dicks estimates that they also have a large African American population. “Lawyers, doctors, good black people,” Browning said. Dicks looks at Dionna Denny, the bartender who was on duty that afternoon. But neither of them says anything. Even compared to Mississippi, Natchez has a complicated history with race. Although the town was the center of the state’s slave trading and the largest benefactor, it was so important to the local economy that Natchez opposed secession even before the Civil War. In the middle of the 20th century, the Ku Klux Klan established a large presence in the area. Klansmen assassinated an African American man called Ben Chester White in 1966 to try and lure the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was brought to Natchez by Klansmen in order to assassinate civil rights leader. Residents say that much of this is history. Dicks stated that everyone has friends from all sides. Talks with Natchez residents reveal strikingly similar images of the state’s grandest town becoming just another Mississippi town with poverty, crime and a D-rated school system. According to U.S. Census data, Natchez’s poverty rate has risen by 28 percent in just two decades. It rose from 25 percent in 2000, to 32 percent in 2017. The poverty rate in Mississippi, which is the nation’s poorest state, hovered at 20 percent in 2017. This was a five percent increase from 2000. Natchez’s poverty rate is around 25 percent, with 85 percent of its residents being black. It’s getting worse and many have given up on staying. The town’s population has declined from 20,000 to less than 15,000 since 1990. Residents claim that the town’s population has dropped from 20,000 to under 15,000. Dicks, who was a plumber and caulker, said that unless you are in a business like farming, bartending, or any other type of work, it is possible to survive here. Many people have old wealth and family businesses. Some members of my extended family have this. We don’t. Dicks stated that we were screwed by the deal. Dicks said that the river was once the largest source of interstate commerce. Then (Interstate 20) came in the north, and (Interstate 55) came in to east …” Simpson trails. Natchez is haunted by the ghost of what was, which was the site of the second-largest slave market in the South. It was closed in 1863 by Union troops. It may seem odd that Natchez only has one Confederate monument, given the town’s historical connection to the Confederacy. The entire town is a living memorial to this period of history, thanks to its narrow streets and antebellum houses. “You cannot take the Confederacy from Natchez. You can’t,” Dicks said. This may be why all the people at the bar are white and happy to keep monuments and the flag of the state, which have divided the rest the country. Denny stated, “It has as much power and authority as you give it.” “A symbol, monument, or whatever. It doesn’t matter what you think or how powerful it is. It’s negative if you see it that way.” Dicks smiled. Charles Tucker, an older, thin African American man, enters the saloon and takes a place at the bar just before 2 p.m. Simpson and Dicks welcome him and call him Mr. Charles. Simpson later will call Tucker “not really conservative.” The older man smiles and agrees. Tucker, however, looks at the men and waves his hand when asked about his views on the state emblem. Tucker replied, “I don’t want to get involved in all that.” The next few minutes consist of a musical chair of bar stools. Browning looks at Tucker as he enters the saloon. After a few seconds, Browning slips out of the same heavy wooden doors onto Tucker’s porch. Dicks has finished his beer. Eye contact is made with the bartender. An index finger goes up. Another Budweiser at the bar. Another view on the problems plaguing this community. Dicks stated that most people around here who have any sense will continue driving (if they require a hospital). Dicks said, “If you have any type of cancer, or have been diagnosed with it, you should get out of the city.” Simpson stated that these are just the facts. It’s not like anyone isn’t trying to solve these problems. But, you know, it’s difficult without industry. It’s difficult to have a growing population and a strong tax base. Dicks stated that infrastructure is difficult to manage with 15,000 people. It’s small enough that it can work against its own benefit. It’s just like I said. “I don’t want Natchez (to get any bigger) either.” Dicks cannot elaborate before the doors bang open once more. Robert Fornea is a barrel-chested Louisianan native who takes Browning’s place at the bar. Dicks describes Fornea as a “redass” — “that’s an amalgamation of a coonasss and a Redneck”. He owns a sawmill located in Jefferson County. This, he says, is the county’s largest employer. Jefferson has the highest state unemployment rate. However, Fornea stated that it is next to impossible to find people to hire. They come through the doors every day. Fornea stated that every day, I will get at most one to five applications. Not all of them want a job. They have to submit job applications each week in order to keep their paychecks. What do you know? Nearly the entire workforce is black. One of the poorest counties within Mississippi and one of the most deprived in the country. “And I have these young, black and capable men that come in every day to apply for jobs,” Fornea stated. Dicks stated, “They have a high-school degree but they can’t write well enough for a job application.” Fornea smiles. Fornea smiles. “Not,” he laughs again. Fornea claims he has always been conservative but that the experience of running the sawmill has strengthened his political views. Fornea stated, “I want people do honest work for honest wages and I don’t want my tax dollars going to people who are too lazy to work.” Simpson replied, “What was that I saw?” Both men laughed. Simpson is presented with a new Michelob Ultra by Denny. “Now, I’m not against helping those who need it. Fornea stated that she was not against this. Simpson stated, “But you have to help yourself also.” “When I drive through my hometown at four o’clock on Friday, I see young men standing in the street with 40-ounce beers in their hands, as if it were a parade. That’s not right. It’s not their fault. It’s ingrained. This welfare system was created by us. It has been four generations. “And that’s all they have,” Fornea stated, before he pauses. It’s not their fault,” Fornea stated. He said that the tax cuts passed last year by Republicans in Congress have been great for his company, making it profitable for the first times since opening it more than a decade ago. He said that he admires Donald Trump in general. He said that if there are any questions about Trump’s tariffs which have driven up steel prices by 10% and down soybean prices, it’s because of the cost of doing business. “The new president is trying for good. He’s being fought every step of the way, but he is winning, and things will turn around.” Dicks, having stepped outside, sat back on his stool, motioning for another beer. Fornea stated, “I’ll make an political statement.” “It’s the Democrats that’ve wanted people down and dumb so that people vote for them, so they can depend on them, rather than wanting to do anything for themselves… So you see Jesse Jackson is power because he keeps all of the dumb people riled-up.” Dicks looks down, presses his thumbs and forefingers against his beer bottle. Dicks stated, “It’s basically a compacted shitstorm.” There are many things that have happened over time. It’s not black or white, I don’t think.” Fornea stated. “It’s motivation.” Dicks motions for Tucker to move, the black man sitting silently on his stool. “Take Mr. Charles here. He has retired from AT&T. He’s traveled the world,” Dicks says to Tucker and offers him his stool at the bar’s corner. Tucker, who suffered a stroke two years ago and has lost his right side of his body due to it, shakes his head when asked if Natchez offers equal opportunities for its residents. There are no jobs. If there aren’t any jobs, you can’t work. You must leave the town to do anything. To get a job, you must leave the city (for) New Orleans and Jackson. I was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana. “That’s where you had to go.” Simpson nods as Tucker speaks. “That’s right. You can work. It is possible that you are not doing what it is that you desire. There is still a place where you can work. Hell, you can go to North Carolina if you’re looking for work right now. They’ll assign you to work doing some kind of thing,” he stated, referring to the need to hire cleanup workers following Hurricane Florence. But our people aren’t motivated to go work. They are like, “There’s no work here.” Simpson quickly responded when Simpson was asked what that says about a place. It says terrible things about where you are. It also speaks volumes about people who refuse to get up and do the right thing if necessary.” Browning sits outside on the front porch in a large wooden rocker, accompanied by his beer. Browning apologizes to a reporter that he got up and left in the middle of the conversation. He blames Tucker’s entry into the establishment. He said, “And,” and lowered his voice. “I’m real racist.”