State Rep. Solomon Osborne says he is a fighter.
The Democrat and semi-retired attorney fought successfully against discriminatory hiring and promotion practices of the city of Greenwood during the civil rights era. He fought successfully to change Greenwood’s form of government, a change that transformed it from white rule to a black majority.
On Wednesday, he told a Greenwood Voters League audience of about 30 that, if they keep him in the Legislature, he will continue to fight for justice and equality, with a particular emphasis on education.
He pledged to support higher funding for public education at all levels and try to reduce the disparities in educational offerings between the Delta and other more prosperous areas of the state. He said he would support expanding early childhood education and advocate for enhancing the campus and the academic programs at Mississippi Valley State University.
“I will fight for you in the same way that I have tried to fight down through the years,” he said.
Osborne, 71, was elected in March in House District 32 to fill out the last nine months of the term of Willie Perkins Sr., who resigned after winning a chancery judge’s seat.
Now seeking a full four-year term, Osborne will face two independents on Nov. 5 — Troy Brown Sr., whom Osborne defeated in the special election, and Toris Williams.
Osborne, who said he was not feeling well Wednesday night, kept his remarks relatively brief at just more than 12 minutes. But he was not sparing in his criticism of Donald Trump.
He called the Republican president a “lunatic” who consciously appeals to racists and “anybody who can oppress people.”
Osborne accused Trump of trying to reverse the racial progress the nation has experienced over the past century. “We have this idiot in the White House who is trying to take us back to the 1920s. ... I’ve heard about some presidents who were racist, but this guy here takes the cake,” Osborne said.
He said it is depressing that although poll taxes and literacy tests have been long outlawed, they have been replaced by other strategems designed to suppress the vote of racial minorities.
“It’s just the same old soup warmed over.”
Three others who will be on the Nov. 5 ballot made a return trip Wednesday to the Voters League to tout their candidacies — Demetrice Bedell, who is running for Leflore County sheriff; Eric Mitchell, who is running for Leflore County supervisor in District 4; and Cora Denise Stewart Lowe, who is running for the District 4 seat on the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School Board.
•Contact Tim Kalich at 581-7243 or tkalich@gwcommonwealth.com.
