A resolution introduced in the Mississippi Legislature has raised a statewide discussion about who represents the Magnolia State at the U.S. Capitol, specifically in the National Statuary Hall.
At the center of the discussion are two historic figures, one an influential and wealthy white 19th century statesman from North Carrollton, the other the 20th century child of black sharecroppers in the Delta who rose to be one of the world’s iconic popular music legends.
Representative Mark Baker, R-Brandon, has called for replacing the statue of Confederate colonel, U.S. senator and state Supreme Court Chief Justice J.Z. George with one of blues legend B.B. King.
George lived in North Carrollton at his family’s 900-acre estate of Cotesworth with its Greek revival-style mansion. King hailed from a shack in the cotton fields outside Itta Bena at Berclair.
George was a chief architect of the 1890 Mississippi Constitution that foreshadowed Jim Crow segregation and the disenfranchisement of descendants of freed slaves. King overcame Jim Crow laws by speaking the universal language of the blues.
Their lives and circumstances couldn’t be more different or more representative of the complexity of Mississippi history.
At issue, says Baker in his resolution, is that while both men are important and both reflect Mississippi’s past, especially its troubled racial history, replacing a statue of George with one of King would represent to the nation “the transformative power of Mississippi from its past to its present.
“... it is imcumbent upon this Legislature to pursue the interests of its citizens by ensuring that statues representing our state wholly depict the astounding strides made by all citizens.”
A change appears unlikely during this legislative session, but the suggestion has been made and the discussion has been unleashed.
All 50 states have two statues at the National Statuary Hall, and in recent years, seven states have replaced one.
Mississippi donated its two statues in 1931, one of George and another of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy. Both are bronzes sculpted by Augustus Lukeman.
No statue from any state is of an African-American.
On Wednesday, a forum at the University of Mississippi’s Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics debated the issue under the direction of Center chairman Charles Overby and William “Brother” Rogers, president of the Mississippi Historical Society.
Present at that event was Dr. Gloria Kellum of Oxford, retired vice chancellor and professor at the university and the great-great granddaughter of George.
“I think the discussion is really worth having,” Kellum said, “We need to contextualize things by asking, for example, why J.Z. George and Jefferson Davis were chosen to represent Mississippi in 1931.”
Kellum said she would be fine with a decision to replace her ancestor’s statue as long as the discussion is sound and respects the complex history of the state.
“It was a very enlightening discussion,” Kellum said. “We can’t change history, but we can work to understand it. This state has been the focus of both the Civil War and the civil rights movement, and we need to understand all of that.”
Kellum said that if George’s statue is replaced, she’d like to see it come home to the Cotesworth Center.
“It could add to what I consider to be a cultural heritage site, one that would attract economic development through tourism for that part of the state,” she said.
Local advertising executive Allan Hammons, who was a friend of B.B. King and contributed to the design and content of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola, said that he has not thought through the issue of whether the George statue should be replaced.
“I’m a student of history,” Hammons said, “and James Zacharias George is a man who had a great impact on our state’s history.”
If the statue is replaced, he said, King would make a great replacement.
“You couldn’t find a better ambassador for the great state of Mississippi than B.B. King,” Hammons said. “He was an extraordinary man who was known worldwide. He was humble and was always proud to call himself a Mississippian.”
Laura Davis, president of the Carroll County School Board that oversees the county’s J.Z. George High School, said that if she had a vote, she’d like to see King, or perhaps civil rights leader Medgar Evers replace George in Washington.
Davis said that she remembers fondly the times when B.B. King would come to Indianola for his annual homecoming concert and blacks and whites would join in a big celebration.
“We would be just one big family out there in that field,” she said.
In her opinion, it’s not so much about the mark that George made on history as it is about moving forward.
“We need to stop dwelling on history,” she said. “If we just stay in yesterday here in Mississippi, we’re not going to ever get ahead.”
• Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
