Mississippi’s uncertain future after the Covid

For Calvin and Darius, the Covid-19 hasn’t changed much. On this Monday morning, they meet in the parking lot of SaveMaxx, the main supermarket in Tchula, 2,000 inhabitants, in Mississippi. With a few young people from this small town located between Memphis and Jackson, they are remaking the world. They don’t work, sometimes get odd jobs, and try to survive as best they can… The only notable difference today is the mask they wear when someone comes to see them. “What do you want us to do here?” There is nothing for us, ”they lament. They have thought about moving to Atlanta, Memphis or Nashville, but moving also requires resources. And they say they are stigmatized.

Their sentiment is shared by many residents of Holmes County, the poorest in the United States – according to the rankings, others are vying for the title, still in Mississippi and Louisiana. A feeling of abandonment that does not date from the Covid crisis. The region is mainly populated by descendants of slaves, who stayed there after the abolition because they had nowhere to go. Some continued to live on the plantations and work for the wealthy white landowners.

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