by Joseph Rosen
Cattle rancher and Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi wears her racism on her sleeve. But after a video of her making light of lynching went viral late in her recent campaign for a US Senate seat, some of her more prominent corporate backers like AT&T and Facebook took steps to distance themselves from her, fearing the backlash of public outrage. Fortunately for AT&T and Facebook, their capitalist comrades-in-arms at Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Koch Industries stepped in to pick up the slack. These giant oil monopolies are apparently less concerned with public relations scandals. With the help of some well-heeled financiers and other capitalist crooks, they increased their support for the “embattled” Hyde-Smith by funneling more than $3.2 million through the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a “political party committee,” and the Senate Leadership Fund, a Super PAC.
In the now infamous video, a smiling Hyde-Smith, speaking about one of her fellow ranchers at an all white rally of her supporters, said that “if he’d invited me to a public hanging, I’d be in the front row.” There are more recorded lynchings in Mississippi than in any other state in Amerikkka: in Mississippi alone, at least 654 men, women, and children died during the reign of white supremacist terror lasting between 1877 and 1950. As recently as Feb 18, 2018, 21 year old Willie Jones Jr. was found hanging from a tree outside his child’s mother’s home in Scott County, MS. His family is still demanding a thorough investigation. Meanwhile, on December 17 the racist Hyde-Smith was sworn in to Congress.
As she has always done, Hyde-Smith will reward those who help to keep her in power. She will continue to pursue tax cuts for the rich and she will continue to lavish tax-payer money on the oil-hungry Pentagon as well as her friends in Agribusiness. And whether by denying us healthcare or by poisoning our water, she will continue her war on working and oppressed people— only she’ll be even more free to whip up racist terror as an answer to our struggle for liberation. For $3.2 million, the capitalists bought this license for her and they expect a return on their investment.
We must fight to remove this bigot from power but we have to go further to prevent that she ever returns. We can only be rid of the Hyde-Smiths of the world once we are rid of the capitalists to whom they answer; we must replace their rule with ours.