November 7th, 2008
King William’s Town, South Africa | Khayelitsha, South Africa | Coahoma County, Mississippi
Coahoma County, Mississippi
Geography and Environs
Clarksdale is the county seat of Coahoma County, located in northwest Mississippi – the heart of the Delta. This area, containing some of the most fertile land in the world, has cotton fields that stretch for miles. Ever-present in the wide, flat terrain of the Delta, they serve as a constant reminder of the people’s origins. One can also find swamps and bayous, as well as Moon Lake, about which Tennessee Williams (a Mississippi native) often wrote.
Clarksdale is surrounded by a number of smaller towns, scattered among miles of cotton, such as Jonestown, Coahoma, Lula, and Friars Point. Jonestown, located a few miles to the northeast of Clarksdale, used to be a diverse, bustling town during Jim Crow. With increasing black political empowerment in the 1970s and 1980s, Jonestown, like so many other towns, experienced almost total white flight, leaving the town economically depressed. Jonestown struggles with problems resulting from the absence of economic opportunities, including drug abuse and crime. That said, much has been done by the locals to better their community. Initiatives to clean the town and create public parks through grants have been very successful.
Two miles to the northwest of Jonestown sits Coahoma, a small town of 325 residents that faces many of the same problems as Jonestown. It is also the birthplace of the late James Carr, a notable singer of soul and R&B.
To the north of Coahoma is Lula, another small town of 370 residents according to the 2000 census. In addition to having a Mississippi Blues Trail marker, Lula also is the home of the cotton gin still run by the Johnson family.
To the southwest of Lula is Friars Point, a town of about 1500 people that experienced a minor race riot in the late 19th century. It now boasts a museum containing artifacts of local history. Friars Point also has a Mississippi Blues Trail marker, and is mentioned in a few blues songs. Muddy Waters claimed to have seen Robert Johnson playing in front of a drugstore in the town, and was so intimidated by his skill that he moved on.
To the east of Clarksdale lies Lambert, right across the border in Quitman County. Lambert is home to nearly 2,000 residents, and is the birthplace of the innovative blues harmonica player Snooky Pryor, and is now home of blues teacher Johnnie Billington.
History
Sitting on the banks of the Sunflower River, Clarksdale was until recently one of the top cotton centers, drawing cotton picked and processed by African-Americans from the miles of plantations surrounding it. With the establishment of a train depot there after WWII, many blacks went north to Chicago in order to escape the ever-present oppression of Jim Crow and find jobs that didn’t involve picking cotton for two dollars a day. However, the population was not strictly divided between blacks and whites; a number of immigrants from other countries arrived at various times as well. Italian, Lebanese, and Chinese immigrants opened shops and generally received better treatment than African-Americans. Though lynching occurred rarely in Clarksdale compared to other areas, the KKK was very active and Jim Crow did enable the violent suppression of the black population for almost a century. Out of this suppression during the first half of the 20th century, the musical style known as blues emerged. Clarksdale saw some of the best blues musicians in history live and play in its shacks and juke joints. Sam Cooke, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, and many others were born in Clarksdale itself or in nearby towns. The blues played, and continues to play, a large role in Clarksdale life.
The town of Clarksdale itself did not see major action during the Civil Rights Movement, but many major events related to the movement did occur in the area surrounding. Emmett Till was murdered in Money, a few miles to the east. Fannie Lou Hamer was from Indianola, just south of Clarksdale. Clarksdale itself was the home of Aaron E. Henry, a major grass-roots activist and member of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, or MFDP, which claimed to be the only democratically elected party in Mississippi at the time. Hamer and Henry were the major leaders of the MFDP when they attended the Democratic Convention in 1964. Their main objectives revolved around gaining democratic representation and the right to vote. Despite the failure of the MFDP to gain seats at the convention, Jim Crow began to be dismantled in Mississippi over the next few years. Many black residents still remember desegregation and the first time they were allowed to go to formerly whites-only restaurants, or enter the Clarksdale cinema through the front door.
Economy
The economy of Coahoma County and Clarksdale has for centuries been centered on cotton. The Delta’s rich soil produced the best American cotton since the antebellum period, and plantation owners depended on predominantly black-but also white-labor to plant, tend, and harvest the crop. Most of the black population depended on this system of sharecropping in order to survive, and, because of Jim Crow restrictions, found it almost impossible to expand into other trades. Black sharecroppers were generally paid between two and three dollars for an entire day’s labor. Once cotton harvest and processing became mechanized in the latter half of the 20th century, the machines replaced many of the sharecroppers. Additionally, globalization has hurt the existing cotton producers in Coahoma as cotton grown in other countries is increasingly imported for domestic use. Thus, most of those who depended on cotton for subsistence either had to find new work or become unemployed.
The white flight that occurred in the wake of desegregation and the dismantling of Jim Crow took a lot of industry out of the rural areas as well, leaving many communities economically depressed. Developments in Coahoma County in the past few years have been a double-edged sword. Casinos, which have recently begun arriving in the area, have provided the best job opportunities seen in years for many. They have also caused an increase in gambling addiction in the surrounding areas, prompting some to compare them to the “pay now, exploit later” methods of the old plantations. Much of the region, most notably rural communities, has not been severely affected by the global market crisis aside from the increase in the price of fuel. This phenomenon is mostly because Coahoma County is not as integrated into the world market as most parts of the U.S. That said, many point to significant improvements in the local economy, especially in Clarksdale. Blues tourism has done a lot in the past few years to bring many to the area, with the many blues clubs, hotels, and historic attractions.
People
Of the over 30,000 inhabitants of Coahoma County, roughly 29% are white, 69% black, and less than 2% from other backgrounds. In Clarksdale, the 20,645 inhabitants are roughly divided along the same racial lines as the county. While it would be naïve to say that racial tensions no longer exist, the incredible strides and progress made in the past 40 years have irreversibly changed Delta society. However, there is still much that causes friction between whites and blacks.
After the dismantling of Jim Crow in the late 1960s and early 1970s, mandatory school integration prompted many whites to move and create academies that would economically segregate the student body. White flight and newly gained voting rights led to the election of blacks to political offices not occupied by African-Americans since Reconstruction. In Clarksdale, this was partly a result of local efforts to make the city adopt a ward system-an act to further democratize the area and give direct representation.
(Photos on this page Copyright © 2010, Ryan Koons)