Rain, Civil Rights and Civil War

We drove for 3 hours today to Jackson, Mississippi. It was so green and beautiful but about half-way through the drive we heard a severe weather warning on the radio and the sky got very ominous, with dense, fast-moving dark green clouds. The radio listed all the places where the storm was going to hit, but we had no idea where they were in relation to us. I was really stressed driving and at one point I just pulled off and tried to wait it out. We couldn't wait that long however. White knuckle driving is not my first choice. We did make it to Jackson in one piece and ran through the rain to the Two Mississippi Museums. In one end of the building was the Mississippi Civil Rights museum and in the other was the Museum of Mississippi History. The first was quite emotionally moving. There were spots where you would walk and suddenly the area would light up and someone would be shouting at you as though you were black. They had many signs with lists of lynchings by year. They also had signs explaining what happened in certain years after the Civil War had ended. If you don't want to read them, just scroll by. :)

1866: The Civil Rights Act is passed, Tennessee forms the Klu Klux Klan, race riots break out in several places in the south.

1870: The 15th amendment passes, giving all citizens the right to vote.

The history museum taught us a lot about the dispossession of Native Americans and about the cotton industry that made slavery so profitable. I only took one picture here that has nothing to do with what I just said ;)

After lunch we drove to Vicksburg. A massive important battle of the Civil War took place there, so the city is surrounded by a national battlefield park. It is so sobering to think of how many lives were lost in this horrible war!

We ended our day in Delhi, Louisiana. So, I can say I have been to Louisiana!