Jackson Jambalaya

Change it to "Medgar Evers International Reservoir."

Ler's see..........

1) "Stokes-Beckwith Lake" has a nice ring

2) "Blackmon reservoir"???

3) "Meredith-Killen Lake"

Yes, let's waste some more time, money and effort rewriring history...
No matter wht is done, it is impossible to satisfy those consumed by the past

at this point, I'd leave it as it is out of spite. and the fear that it'd be some else named after Medgar Evers. I'm waiting for the petition to rename Jackson Eversville.

i despise everything Ross Barnett stood for, BUT... Leave the name of the lake i live on the hell alone. If anything it should create a dialog about our state history, one that could actually educate people about the real history here. There's no need to sugar coat what has happened here in the past.

Compared to other man-made reservoirs in Mississippi, it is by far the ugliest . . .

I love it's pristine beaches. Oh wait, never mind.

Let's move on. The civil rights era has been over for 40 years. Stop race baiting and division. Stop renaming everything! Mov e forward not waller in the last. Enough of PC and guilt tripping!

Call it Stump Lake...its a 33,000 acre mud hole with 32,500 acres of stumps.

Anon 4:32, I think that there are more alligators than stumps.

Just so y'all know, I love, love, love the Res and the river, too.

So, KF, is there a real discussion about this going on somewhere or did you come up with this on your own?

The ONLY real discussions ever going on in the city of Jackson are right here at JJ.

I think ballsemen lake has a great ring to it.

Not disputing that, Paul. Just wondering if the poll was related to some push to change the name or if it was just for $hits and giggles.

Ross Barnett was the worst kind of racist hatemonger. He alone was more than likely responsible for the riot at Ole Miss in '62. NOTHING should be named for that scoundrel.

But, Ross' daughter is trying to atone for the sins of the old man by teaching at Lanier for years on end.

How's that working out for those kids? NOT TOO GOOD.

Saw a comment on the JFP site from someone and I thought it would make a good poll question.

Ross was not alone in inciting the Ole Miss riots. Equal blame needs to be placed on Bobby Kennedy when the two of them coordinate every move up to the riot when eveything blew up in their faces.

I wrote the majority of the Rez's Wikipedia article, and came to the conclusion while doing research that it is in dire need of a re-branding, not just for the negative history associated with the former gov (that's part of it), but also that it's just not a very good name in general. I would like to see it changed to the Magnolia Reservoir, or even the Pearl River Reservoir would be better than it's current name. I'd also like to see some tourism efforts, but there are too many land owners that would be opposed to new development (rental cabins, marinas, pontoon rentals, etc.)

I have often wondered when that issue would come up! I have lived on the reservoir for 33 years...almost most my life. When the flag debate crap was going on I was wondering why they (apoligist-Aclu-NAACP..etc) forgot about the Ross Barnett Reservoir? most all the schoolsin New Orleans had to change their names from confederate soldier names so why had no one thought of the Reservoir? I am glad they haven't but this post makes me wonder.....is it coming?

I think when the season starts up we should all go to Flag Island and ask the regulars what they think. I'm sure there would be a lot of open minded, unbiased answers, ha. Or at least a few interesting suggestions!

But seriously... Since the black community isn't traditionally known for their (and I'll be delicate here) "water sporting abilities and hobbies" anyway, do they really even care what it's called? Or is it just another conquest for the "we will always see the world as if it is against us" people?

If it personally offends you to see the name Ross Barnett on a couple of exit signs, then you are a person who is never going to be at peace with anything.

Quit renaming crap for the overly sensitive.

stiletto, I swear that I have photographic evidence somewhere of four black folks on Waverunners at Flag Island from two years ago.

I'll try to find them.

If it were named "Bilbo Reservoir," then I would say change it. Gov. Barnett was a racist, but not of the vicious variety. His main flaw was an overabundance of sentimentality. He seemed really to believe in the goodness of a paternalistic society. My vote is to leave his name there, in case a child asks "Who was Barnett?" Such a question could lead to a nice "teachable moment." Trying to erase "Barnett" is much like censoring the "n" word from "Huckleberry Finn." It's a matter of wretched excess.

Said occurrence is an urban legend, it has never been proven. All photos of documentation appear to have been altered, and are hazy.

It was on Mythbusters once.

Was the same episode proving white men cannot dance.

I'm all for The Kaptain Rez! I only have issues with folks wearing green jeans, although I'm sure the buglers could take issue with that.

stiletto, I swear, but strangely, after a one hour search, I have not been able to locate them.

I am going to e-mail a buddy and see if he has them.

How bout lake pearl! By the way I think that was his wifes name!

Ross barnett was an elected official...

The name has stayed cuz there is nothing about Ross taught in public schools. I would dare to say maybe 5% of people under 40 know who he is...

Why stop with Ross Barnett? There is Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest (for whom Forrest County is named) who conducted the massacre of black Union soldiers in the bloody episode at Fort Pillow. Forrest ordered them slaughtered on the spot, using some of the most barbaric and inhumane tortures and atrocities available. He became the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan! How about Woodrow Wilson for whom Woodrow Wilson Blvd is named? Upholding a policy of re-segregating the federal government, which had been gradually de-segregating since the end of the Civil War was entirely consistent with a president who claimed repeatedly that "Segregation is not humiliating but a benefit" and "distinctly to the advantage of the colored people themselves."

Anon 9:17, pretty much every notable Democrat from Forrest's time until around 1964 was in the Klan.

Woodrow Wilson was probably not as tied to the Klan as FDR was. FDR appointed the first Klan Supreme Court Justice, Hugo Black.

And what about Robert Byrd? There would not a building or a bridge in West Virginia with a name on it if we removed those things.

Honestly, I would hate for it to be Medger Evers Reservoir not because I dislike Evers, he was a great man, but that would be a little cliche, and he already has an airport. How about any name other than one that glorifies Mississippi's very dark past. Pearl River Reservoir or even simply "The Rez". Most people call it that anyways to avoid giving him any glory. It would be like Germany naming a Reservoir the Adolf Hitler Waterway? I can understand Mississippi not changing the name of Jefferson Davis for something but really Ross Barnett is notable for "being a staunch segregationist, noted for his tumultuous clashes with the U.S. Civil Rights Movement"?

David, check this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streets_named_after_Adolf_Hitler