Mike Thompson: “I was very happy to see the Mississippi State legislature finally get around to taking the slavery law off the books. My…”

“I was very happy to see the Mississippi State legislature finally get around to taking the slavery law off the books. My point here is there are so many things in America we have to correct so that even by taking slavery off the books, that is the first step. But if you look at my State again we have more black elected officials than any other State, and you would assume, rightfully so, that that is something to be proud of and we are. But the fact is that had to go to court to give African-Americans in Mississippi the opportunity to elect the candidates of their choice. Our State government did not want that and I am tying this into affirmative action and civil rights. We have to have laws that encourage people to do the right thing. Affirmative action encourages individuals to do the right thing. But the broader issue is leadership. The cop-out is to say we do not need affirmative action, we are in a color-blind society, there should be no preferences given. But that is not leadership. Leadership recognizes the fact that there is a history in this country that a lot of us are not proud of, but we are men and women composing a Congress who are willing to bite the bullet and correct the past evils. Leadership dictates making the difficult decisions, not running from them.”