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26 Feb, 11 tweets, 7 min read
NEW: Historians warn that a Republican bill could "politicize" the Mississippi Dept. of Archives & History board, which has drawn praise for the MS Civil Rights Museum & refusing to sugarcoat history.

The Senate passed it on a party-line vote. #MSLeg 1/
mississippifreepress.org/9679/we-cannot…
Under #SB2727, the history board, currently led by Reuben Anderson (the first Black Mississippi Supreme Court justice), would no longer recommend new members for Senate approval.

Instead, the governor and lieutenant governor would appoint its members. 2/ mississippifreepress.org/9679/we-cannot…
46 historians to #MSLeg: “We are asking that you not interfere with the independence of an entity that has done so much good work for our state. To improve (MDAH), what is needed is an increase in funding. Please do not politicize its Board of Trustees.” 3/mississippifreepress.org/9679/we-cannot…
The bill comes after Trump appointed ex-Gov. Phil Bryant to his anti-1619 Project "patriotic education" commission last year, which pushed for teaching a whitewashed version of US history.

Gov. Tate Reeves also called for "patriotic education." 4/
mississippifreepress.org/7725/trump-tap…
The so-called, “Saving American History in Mississippi Schools Act," which would've stripped funding from K-12 schools that teach @nhannahjones's #1619 project, died weeks ago.

But historians fear #SB2727 could succeed at "politicizing" history. 5/
mississippifreepress.org/9679/we-cannot…
@SocMissArch: “We...just took a very small step out of this dark, racist past by finally changing the state flag in June 2020, in large part due to the potential major loss of revenue and financial support from entities like the NCAA..." 6/
mississippifreepress.org/9679/we-cannot…
@SocMissArch: “Placing the (history board) in the hands of the Executive Branch invites significant politicization of the work of the agency and threatens to undo the good that the @MDAH_Official has done in telling the stories of this state in a candid, evidence-based way." 7/ Image
“The ability to continue work in the preservation and accessibility of Mississippi history unencumbered by political interests is critical to its integrity, and it should remain that way," @SocMissArch said. 8/ mississippifreepress.org/9679/we-cannot…
The bill, #SB2727, passed the Senate on party-line vote and has been transmitted to the House, though no vote has yet been scheduled. #MSLeg 9/
mississippifreepress.org/9679/we-cannot…
If you support contextual journalism that covers vital issues to the people of Mississippi, please follow us @MSFreePress and consider giving a one-time or recurring donation at mfp.ms/donate to help us keep doing this work—and more of it!
Also, for more on #SB2727 and what its backers think, read @lramseth's Feb. 16 report on it—when it had just quietly passed the Senate with little public notice. #MSLeg
djournal.com/news/state-new…

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More from @ashtonpittman

Ashton Pittman Profile picture
26 Feb
Look, @Twitter, I know I'm just a Mississippi journalist with only 23.4k followers.

I'll never be as cool or important as a Walmart exec with 8 followers who only opened his account in January, I know.

But today marks three years since you "paused" your verification system. Image
In the sense of the blue check as a status symbol, I don't care.

But as a journalist who works for a non-profit that depends on the support of small donors, that check helps us grow our following and also demonstrates to newcomers that we're a legit organization.
Also: I've been a journalist for a long time, but because I don't have a blue check, I still have people on Twitter express uncertainty about my own exclusive reporting and wondering why no blue checks have reported it.
Read 5 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
24 Feb
NEW: As Mississippi passed a bill ending the state income tax today. Rep. Trey Lamar compared it to ending slavery.

“President Lincoln said the right to have a reward for your work was the birthright of every American. That was the main issue of the war.” mississippifreepress.org/9573/as-state-…
The "Mississippi Tax Freedom Act of 2021" would phase out the income tax over a 10-year period starting in 2022.

To make up for the loss about about one-third of the state's revenue, the bill raise the general sales tax from 7% to 9.5%. #MSLeg
mississippifreepress.org/9573/as-state-…
This morning, Democratic House Leader Robert Johnson said he hadn't found a "trick" or "trojan horse" in the bill, citing provisions he likes.

It cuts the grocery tax in half, from 7% to 3.5%.

But he voted against the bill this afternoon. mississippifreepress.org/9573/as-state-…
Read 13 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
22 Feb
THREAD: Eddie Lee Howard, a Black man, is free after spending 26 years on death row at Parchman for a rape/murder DNA now proves he didn't commit.

The primary evidence against him?

INVISIBLE bite marks an alleged expert found using "special glasses." 1/ mississippifreepress.org/9488/eddie-lee…
"Bite mark expert" Dr. Michael West's 1994 testimony ensured Eddie Lee Howard's death sentence.

Later, West testified that bite marks on a 3-year-old's body were those of Kennedy Brewer—her father.

The real culprit? Crawfish, a forensic panel found. 2/ mississippifreepress.org/9488/eddie-lee…
Thanks to Dr. Michael West's testimony, Kennedy Brewer, who is Black, spent seven years on death row for the murder of his three-year-old child before advanced DNA testing excluded him from the crime.

As @11_mcgee's reports, he wasn't alone. 3/ mississippifreepress.org/9488/eddie-lee…
Read 17 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
21 Feb
The right wing has a very deliberate strategy behind its endless cries of victimhood, suppression & liberal bias: to bully powerful institutions into granting it special privileges & establishing double standards for their benefit.

In sports, it's called "working the refs." 1/
One of the most successful targets of this long-time campaign to "work the refs" was James Comey.

@Comey began the Clinton email investigation for fear the FBI would look political if he didn't.

He publicly criticized Clinton even as he exonerated her due to the same fear. 2/
Comey didn't go public about the investigation into evidence that the Trump campaign was coordinating with Russia for fear of right-wing accusations of bias if he did.

Comey went public about finding "new" Clinton emails 10 days before the election for the same fear. 3/
Read 23 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
19 Feb
NEW: After Marc Davis, a Black man, called 911 to report he'd been in a car crash, a responding police officer shot Davis three times, killing him.

Petal's Chamber of Commerce just declared that officer, Aaron Jernigan, Petal's "2020 Officer of the Year." mississippifreepress.org/9455/petal-off…
Petal Mayor Hal Marx is a director with the Petal Chamber of Commerce that gave Officer Jernigan the award.

Last year, Marx drew hundreds of #BlackLivesMatter protesters after mocking George Floyd's death: “If you say you can’t breathe, you’re breathing." mississippifreepress.org/9455/petal-off…
Petal Mayor Hal Marx's remarks about George Floyd and the claim that George Floyd died of an overdose drew renewed attention to Marc Davis' death.

State investigators and a federal judge ruled the shooting "justified," but Davis' family challenged that. mississippifreepress.org/9455/petal-off…
Read 14 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
19 Feb
NEW: Moss Point Mayor Mario King & his wife Natasha told contributors for the 2019 "Mayor's Gala" that proceeds would support a mental health program for K-12 students.

Prosecutors say they used the money to buy a Volvo & pay off personal debt instead. 1/ mississippifreepress.org/9439/moss-poin…
The Kings plan to plead guilty to at least one charge each on Feb. 24. But Mayor King has signaled no plans to resign despite facing 14 federal charges and up to 20 years. His term ends in June.

An alderman is calling for him to "immediately" resign. 2/
mississippifreepress.org/9439/moss-poin…
The Kings told gala attendees that their contributions would “support the efforts of mental health in the City of Moss Point with a focus on the Moss Point School District, converting spaces into a therapeutic and innovative learning environment." 3/ mississippifreepress.org/9439/moss-poin…
Read 10 tweets

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