The Jackson City Council unanimously passed a resolution that denounces 60 Minutes for the CBS show's portrayal of Jackson in an episode profiling former Jackson State head football coach Deion Sanders.
While Sanders was talking about his move from Jackson State, a historically Black college in a city with more than 80% Black population, to coach at the University of Colorado in Boulder, a city with a 1% Black population, unflattering images of Jackson were depicted in the episode: a rundown house and a man carrying bottles of water to his car, which could be seen as a reference to the city's on-going water crisis.
“The distance between Jackson and Boulder is a thousand miles, and immeasurably further culturally,” said L. Jon Wertheim, the 60 minutes reporter, in the episode. “Sanders went from a city that is 83% black to one that is one percent black. From a place with a water crisis to a kind of hipster college town where there’s a shop devoted to kites.”
Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes, who brought forth the resolution in Tuesday's meeting, was vocal in his condemnation of the long running show:
"To paint a picture in a negative light based on race or based on wealth is not the right thing to do. I hope by the city council taking a vote today that 60 Minutes and people all over the United States and really all over the world would know that that's wrong. Don't do that," Stokes said. "Don't try to create a false narrative that the whole city of Jackson is a waste, a dump and that all the people in this city are sorry people. We have great people in this city: Black and white, young and old. Show those kind of things, you can interview a whole lot of people who would tell you a different side of Jackson."
Stokes continued, saying he didn't get a chance to see the interview but was approached by many residents who expressed outrage. He brought forth the resolution because it's "important as a city council, speaking with one voice, that we support the City of Jackson.
Each of the council members agreed with Stokes and thanked him for putting forth the resolution. Ward 4 Councilman Brian Grizzell, who taught at Colorado State, called the episode "sloppy, irresponsible and reckless journalism."
"Media has a responsibility not to be biased, not to paint a picture. These types of facilities and these types of houses are in every city. Why are you picking to make a point on that? There are beautiful houses in Jackson, why couldn't you use that?" Ward 5 Councilman Vernon Hartley said. "This is especially egregious because it's a national program."
Hartley asked all media to be fair in reporting and to paint an accurate picture of Jackson.
Ward 6 Councilman and Council President Aaron Banks said the council was going to send a copy of the resolution to all media outlets in Mississippi and directly to CBS' headquarters. He also asked Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba to write another denouncing letter to go along with the resolution, to which the mayor agreed.
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"That type of imagery projects a message that the people who live in those communities are less than. I want to be clear that that is not true. While we have some work to do in order to lift up their community and support them more than they have been supported historically, we want to be clear that we have love and appreciation for all parts of Jackson," Lumumba said. "All of the things we love about Jackson is infectious, and people should know that story."
And while the mayor and the council denounced the images of Jackson shown on 60 Minutes, one image they are set on correcting is problems with the city's libraries. Stokes brought the issue up during discussion saying having functioning libraries is important for youth and those who don't have access to internet or computers.
“We do not have a choice. We got to fund libraries,” Stokes said. “It’s not even worth discussing why the capital city for the state of Mississippi continues to tear down libraries, continues to close libraries but will not fund libraries. So many children, they do not have an opportunity to have a computer in their home. They have to go to the library to use the computers.”
Stokes said their needs to be conversation with the Hinds County Board of Supervisors about why Jackson’s libraries are in the state they are in, while the county’s libraries have no issues.
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“The county need to help. It’s a joint project, it’s not just us,” Stokes said. “We got to start making the county do their part.”
Louis Wright, the city’s chief administrative officer, updated the council with the city’s plans to demolish Eudora Welty Library. The books and other resources at the library will temporarily be moved to Union Station and housed until the city can find a new site for the flagship library, Wright said.
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the library system and the city have all been in discussions about demolishing Eudora Welty Library to turn into a green space in front of the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.
Wright also confirmed that the main cost of the project for the city would only be having to move the books over to Union Station.
“We understand your concerns Mr. Stokes as far as the libraries being a resource for youth and internet capabilities and all that. We are working on them one at a time,” Wright said. “We’re taking each library one step at a time where we can make them viable libraries within our city again.”
