Jackson Jambalaya

This is MUCH better use of resources than another discount resort mall

Good for us!

2,500 jobs (plus the other 1,000 on the coast). Economic development works.

@2:20 Both have their place

Do we have a cost break down per job or any such information?

That would be an investment per job breakdown, Debbie Downer at 2:52 . There is a reason we are last.

I believe it is referred to as a "tar" plan in Missippi.

Cannot see where the tire plant will be located.

It is common to "amend" the Mississippi Code in these situations?

this is a game-changer for hinds county. and with the county working on the Clinton-Byram parkway, western hinds is set for 10-15 years of growth.

big day for anyone who lives in the metro area actually

So does Yates already have the contract?

Clinton's population is going to explode. One of Mississippi very best school districts, a diligent police force and a great Mayor to lead the way!

...and with the county working on the Clinton-Byram parkway

Don't tell that to Lt. Robert Graham of the Jackson Police Department. He wants his many years in opposition to the parkway to be forgotten.

Don't know who has the contract, but whoever it is the deal is probably already done. When a company comes in to build a plant of this size they have already got that kind of detail done. Wouldn't be surprised if its not Yates - they certainly have the capacity to manage the project - but don't know that they have any previous connection to Continental.

No sh&t 4:14. You could try your best to find a bunch of stuck up, elitist, dishonest pricks around this state and you wouldn't come close to finding what these guys equate to.
Yet, they'll continue to fund Pheel, Tater and the rest of MS politico's campaigns and personal wallets and get away with whatever they want.
People run from WGY Construction related projects yet there they are, fleecing all of us time and time again.
They are TURRIBLE.

Should be some great revenue for the lobbyist and his PAC supporters.

More corporate welfare, borrowing to give handouts to the corporations. How many jobs will Mississippi businesses cut collectively when the inevitable tax increase tightens their budget?

I assumed Yates will get the contract. The Yates daughter and son in Law live next door to me in NE Jackson always seem to have there noses in the air… Even more than most of these hotty toddys in on the block.

Some of you people are just plain stupid. Example @ 5:48. There is no "borrowing to give corporate handouts". Either the plant comes here or it doesn't. If we agree to collect a few less tax dollars than the standard corporate tax rate would suggest in order to convince the plant to come here, we get those tax dollars AND 1200 people get jobs - which, in turn generate additional tax revenue for the state. OR>>>>> we refuse to collect a few less tax dollars...and we get $0 tax revenue from the plant and 1200 people do NOT get jobs. See? It really is NOT that hard.

Mississippi has had (and closed) tire plants in the past. The most prominent one that comes to mind is Armstrong Tire and Rubber of Natchez.

Now we need some furniture factories so the middle class can be rebuilt. The middle class got sucked south by NAFTA.

This is much bigger than Clinton. Those 2,500 jobs will cover five or more counties. But yes, it will be a massive windfall for the Clinton School District as this land will be on the tax rolls for school tax purposes. That is the huge effect for the town of Clinton...the schools will be well financed for equipment, facilities and paying for top teachers, hopefully leading to even higher performance and demand to get in.

The plant is outside of the town of Clinton from what I am told.

Now will Madison and Rankin team up to kill it?

You know, like Alice did to Madison one time since a project wasn't going to Jackson.

6:39 gets it. 4:25 must be one of the mayor's kids. congrats to Hinds County and to the state.

Multi billion dollar international tire company must be ok with the airport. They probably fly more than Senator Harkins and his kids do.

6:39

There is a "break even" point however. The state can "accept fewer tax dollars" to the point that the benefits (plant/construction/jobs/jobs) are outweighed right?

How much did MS taxpayers agree to give up?

What is the remedy if the jobs created do not actually generate what is anticipated? Is there any recourse?

I see that John Horne is already pushing for race discrimination - "I am, of course, concerned as to whether there would be significant diversity on the project in terms of contracting procurement and supplying the needs of the corporation." Good lord. Will they ever learn that this government interference is a big part of why Jackson is falling apart. If you are a black 'leader' have some confidence in black folks. Tell them to go up there and compete for a job and when you get one work hard to keep it. Don't always be asking for some form of government hand out.

@7:08

They'll probably be flying in and out of the Vicksburg airport, which is in Louisiana. That way they can visit the "casinas."

I'm not familiar with the Clinton School District boundaries, but if this is in the county won't the Hinds County School District reap the tax benefits?

Tupelo has a huge Cooper Tire plant and West point has a Yokohama plant.

John Horne needs to be more concerned with the breathalizer in his car. Like a multi-billion dollar international corporation gives a sheet about John Horne's opinion on supply chain management.

Good job Governor Phil Bryant!

A high proportion of employees will be from Jackson. Almost 70%.Yet, the city council calls the governor a George Wallace. In the accomplishment of this the gov has done more for Jackson & blacks than anyone on the city council will do for the city & black during the next 20 years.
So, it really shows up how Stupid these councilmen are.

The middle class got sucked south by NAFTA.

Thank You Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and the then GODS of Mississippi (Jamie Whitten, Sonny Montgomery, Mike Parker, Trent Lott and Kay Webber's PORK KING Thad Cochran) who voted to send our jobs to Mexico!

Outstanding Leadership!!!

You obviously have never been a 'passenger' in/out of Tallulah. Besides, if Harkins had his way we would probably try to have the state take that airport over too since it really is a regional airport.

and 6:47, the Armstrong plant in Natchez closed for several reasons particular to that plant, including its unionization. And the problem the GK had with the 'blacks' wanting administrative jobs. Calling in the Silver Dollar Club to 'handle' the problem wasn't the best way to handle the strife. I'll take a tire plant here any day of the week and twice on Sunday instead of a furniture manufacturer. Higher wages that won't be moving out any time soon.

It's amazing how this thread got to the point it did. It's a wonderful day for Mississippi, Hinds County, and Gulfport. This should be celebrated. I for one am very glad to see this happen and commend both black and white leadership. Surprised the gang downtown was able to keep it quiet for so long. Imagine what we could do if state and local leadership continue to work together.

As for 6:00, sounds like a bitter bulldog who lives in Country Club and is a little jealous of his rebel neighbors. May want to move somewhere closer to your dog friends in Rankin County.

I hate this site. Bunch of fucking high brow rednecks that can't see their nose to spite their faces. Makes me sick. No worries. God riddance to me. Outa here .

Lol at the people talking about the Clinton school district. It will continue to enroll more and more west Jackson thugs. Clinton school district has peaked.

6:39 gets it. 4:25 must be one of the mayor's kids. congrats to Hinds County and to the state.

Right. Bennie's Bolton is a budding Creative Class hotspot with a sterling school system that will convince every young family with a breadwinner working the plant to locate there instead of the award winning Clinton School District.

Sort of like the decision between JPS and virtually ANY OTHER metro school district.

February 3, 2016 at 9:04 PM = Longtime, loyal JJ Reader!!!

9:25. Peaked? Clinton is still on top and about to get a $50 million windfall. And test scores beat Rankin and Madison consistently. You are simply jealous because your school is whiter than Clinton but can't outscore them on ACT.

Johnny @ 8:33.....you have hit the nail on the head.

The Yates family, esp. children, should NOT be brought into this. They live by me, as well. She has been nothing but kind, including returning my escapee dog! Also, We've seen them at Christmas parties, and she has honored an expired gift card in the wonderful store. Nothing obout this thread has anything to do with this fine couple. and they don't have"THEIR" nose's in the air, at all!

Every 3 years, Cooper threatens to close the Tupelo plant. This may tip them over.

Let's see if the newly elected house reps, who were supported by Empower Mississippi, like Bomgar vote against tax incentives.

What does "can't see their nose to spite their face" mean? If the idiot who developed this comment actually leaves, the collective IQ will rise.

Back in the late 1980's, I was having a conversation with a manufacturing plant manager in a rural county in MS. It seems they moved from Jackson/Byram to this very small town not because of the economic incentives to do so, but because the 100 or so employees in Jackson were so unreliable. Though the specific details are long forgotten, the basic message was that Jacksonians weren't able to pass drug tests, stole from him, didn't show up to work. So he pack his stuff and moved.

Here's hoping said tire plant can hire people that aren't morons.

/fwiw, I heard the same type of complaints from a former manager at the Nissan plant in Madison too.

KF

When you get the actual numbers, please post them?

Will it be $100,000 per job?

I am going with the over.

Empower came out against tax incentives? Link?

Can Continental use any of that high grade pine tree oil in their manufacturing process?

Nice getting these blue collar jobs. They certainly are needed. But I wonder when the Gov is going to start talking seriously about bringing in white collar jobs as well, (other than the medical corridor), so that young people who can go to college can actually find a job and stay in the state. Those jobs are going away quietly. Not that I'm not concerned about blue collar jobs, but there should be efforts on both ends. While this plant will bring in 2,500 jobs, probably 10 of them will be white collar. JMHO

Too many of those commenting apparently are bitter, unhappy people who were never told by their mothers " if you can't say something nice, don't say anything"!
6:00 pm is the worst. The notion that the Yates have their noses in the air is laughable! They do ,however , have the good sense to avoid those who are mean spirited and whose reputations precede them!

How much is Josh Gregory making off this deal?

These tax incentives are getting out of hand.

There are certain things which each community must provide for its citizens - like roads, schools, bridges, etc. When states give up taxes they are giving up the necessary funds to pay for these things. The jobs created do not offer any type of buffer for those dollars.

This is a huge mistake and the impact will be felt for a very long time.

Manufacturing jobs need rail and roads. We have that. one does not need great airport access.

7-11. We need southwest back to drive our airport fares back down. Even if it's just flights to Houston. Without that, white collar jobs will still elude us

These tax incentives have got to keep coming.

There are certain things which each community must have for its citizens - like jobs, jobs and paying jobs. When states give up taxes they were never going to get in order for citizens to have jobs, the increase in property taxes alone offers a buffer for any tax forgiveness.

This is a huge success and the impact will be felt for a very long time.

6:52 - You win! Incentives of $263 million to Continental for 2,500 jobs which comes to $105,200 per job. Continental has to create 500 jobs by 2019. Not sure where or when the other 2,000 come from.

we have far too many people lined up for $30,000 white collar jobs and far too few people qualified for $50,000 blue collar jobs.

Everybody who thinks we don't need "more government" has no idea what they are talking about.

We apparently need "more government" to give away "more money" to corporations who don't need it.

What a colossal screw job to the state of Mississippi.

House passed it 118-3. New tea partier Bomgar was one of the 3. Lets see how long he stay's on Phillip Gunn of Clinton's good side. Appears to have lasted exactly a week.

This is forgoing taxes you would not have otherwise gotten.

Glad to know my state government is taking my future tax money, borrowing against it by taking out loans, and giving it to a couple of big corporations. There ain't no government incentives for my business. All the little folks get is taxed so they can turn around and hand it to their corporate buddies.

BOOM! Bomgar, your anti-business legislator from Madison, voted against, just like we knew he would. Voters in Madison County are no smarter than Hinds. You people got hoodwinked. His next vote will be to allow anyone from a connecting district to let their kids go to school in Madison. It's to easy to predict his vote future vote record.

I didn't know we had that many Bernie Sanders types on here.

or........ playing devil's advocate....... its a safe vote for "conservative values" because you know it will pass overwhelmingly.

KF...thats called making a statement at the expense of your peers, and they will only tolerate it for so long. Make the other representatives cast the vote while you get to say nay and look what I did. Let's see how he casts a vote when its 60-60 and his vote matters.

Well well KF. Thanks for chimming in. May I further enlighten the ignorant. Rep. Mark Baker jumped Bomgar hypocritical ass by reminding the "Honorable" cough cough gentleman from Madison that his company benefited from the exact same arrangement he voted against today. Joel promptly shut up. This is what I don't get. Some people here buy Joel's BS hook line and sinker, yet if you know his history you would know he is always selling himself that others know is not true. Politics will be his downfall because he will be called out, like today.

The pietest Joel Bomgar was brought down from his lofty perch by Chairman of the Judiciary Mark Barker today. Representative Baker confronted Bomgar by bring up the fact that Bomgar Corp. got 20 million dollars from funding just like the Governor is trying to do for the tire plant. Oops!

12:46 nailed it. Bomgar can't ride this train and keep a good seat at the table on things he wants to have happen.

Love the calculations people make here, without worrying about the details. How much of the 'incentives' are for infrastructure, job training, etc. The folks that bitch about 'giving' money to the big companies forget that the state has already given their businesses the infrastructure (roads, water, sewer, etc.) to operate. That is a true function of government whether it is for a big deal or a small liquor (created under 1966 law) store.

Job training - another part of the overall education process. And frankly in my book, one of the best and most successful parts. Teaching someone to do a job is one of the end purposes.

Giving up taxes you wouldn't have anyway is the best deal you could get. Those 'incentives'don't cost you or me anything. Getting $0 as a tax that would have been $0 without the new business is not the same as giving money to the new business. And getting the jobs so that people get off the dole and onto the tax rolls is good for the economy and for society.

11:20 AM

So that property was "tax free?"

That's truly amazing if you think nobody paid taxes on that property.

Oh, yes, it was taxed...I see now. You are wrong.

Now, what did you say to begin with?

Why not sell the corporation the land? Tax the land like other businesses have to pay? Can Gray Daniels now just say "ah screw it Mort, lets not pay taxes for 20 years?"

Make the company pay what others have to pay or don't have them.

It will be a superfund site in 25 years anyway...and then MS will have to pay to clean it up.

Disaster for next generation.

will the bomgar corporation refuse government contracts? according to his vote...perhaps they should

Harper does it all the time.

@1:41 your right. This is from Russell Latino on FB today. "Mississippi lawmakers received a 200 page bill this morning asking them to authorize $275,000,000 in spending on two private businesses today. A month or two from now they may be considering a $375,000,000 tax increase because we don't have enough money to fund our state government (or so I'm told). Enough." These Empower Mississppi people like Latino, Bomgar, Grant Callum and Billingsly are without a doubt morons. They think people should just want to gravitate their businesses to Mississippi because of our high literacy rate, sugary sand beaches and enormous wealth creation potential. Wake up people.

Baker laid it to Bomgar today. Should have seen Joel slump back in his chair. His Lilly white face turned 3 shades of pink. Pink is definitely his color. Welcome to the big leagues Joelenna.

80% of that land was 16th section, so actually there were not taxes coming from it. the other 20% was agricultural and thus very low taxes.

12:46: Forgive me. Its just that I'm getting pretty cynical.

On the floor at the Capitol and hardly anyone is up here, only a few other reps, but bomgar is one and he is instructing pages what to do like they are his personal slaves. For 5 minutes he is giving instructions on delivering an envelope. REALLY? This is going to be a fun year!

roads and wells and such are one thing. you expect government to provide those things. but building the dadgum building for them is quite another. this deal stinks to me. beef plant, kior, oreck, anyone?

state spends $250 million on infrastructure. Tire company spends $1.5 Billion. I think that is a fair ratio.

the Blackmons in Canton tried to kill the recent Excel (Nissan related) plant just north of Nissan Parkway. It passed by only one vote in the House.

2:00 - the school taxes that will be paid on this land by the new company will far exceed the total taxes that have been paid on this (previously classified agricultural) land for the past century. You are correct - the landowners, except of course for the 625 acres of 16th section land which is not taxed, have paid a small amount of real estate taxes. No improvements on the land so the total tax amounted to less than the dribble after you get through pixxing. Check what the taxes to be paid on the development when the project is complete.

You lose. Try again.

Check your details 3:13. Don't believe that this bill includes anything like building a building. From what I have seen the building is going to be a billion dollar facility. The incentives voted on today does not include money for that. So, before you bitch, get the details.

@ 9:27....that's $263 million of tax dollars they won't have to pay over the next however-many years, right? So....is that more or less than what they would not have had to pay if they just didn't come here????

And, what is the $$ difference between the expected lifetime earnings for the 1200 (currently unemployed or underemployed) Mississippians to be employed at this new plant and what they would have earned if the plant went to say....Alabama instead.

And, which is more: a smaller a positive number or a larger a negative number?

... expected lifetime earnings for the 1200 (currently unemployed or underemployed) Mississippians to be employed at this new plant ...

Continental is only going to hire the unemployed or underemployed? You know this?

is there video of the Bomgaars tirade?

3:39 i listened to the debate, and they definitely said that they would be laying down the pad, doing foundation work, etc. the gentleman who was speaking said only about 20 per cent of the funds will be for "infrastructure" with the balance being used in expenditures on the site.

Congratulations Madison. You elected someone, Joel Bomgar, who will go down in the annals of history as only one of 3 GOP in the legislature to vote against one of the best business deals ever brought to our state, on the pretense that we should not give incentives to businesses, yet he took the same deal for his own company. A man who bought a house in the district just to run for office. A man who never actually moved into said house. Who spent the most money in MS history, 275k, to get elected to a job that pays 12,500 a year. A man who belongs to Empower MS that spent most of its money last year working to defeat republicans. But all you wanted to hear was what a "good Christian" he told you he was. Good move Madison!!!

Lay off of Joel. This is not why he ran. He ran to fix education.

Now I can't tell you why he voted against a $1.5 billion asset going onto the school board tax rolls, but still....

@ 3:52 Plant will be on the north side of I-20 just beyond the Norrell Road exit. Right now there is a large bridge being built along I-20 to replace the other bridges. The location is just to the north of that bridge. Around mile marker 30.

And I'm glad they spent money going after the Desoto crew. They stood in the way of every education reform measure introduced, bowed down to Milton, and got what they deserved.

@4:37. So Joel wants to fix Edjumacation? You mean while he was homeschooled and he homeschools his kids in Hinds County. We have excellent public schools in Madison. So what does he want to do? Allow parents who don't pay taxes in Madison to enroll their kids from connecting districts into this district that's already busting at the seams with attendance? Let's see, Joel has zero support of the public education system in Madison County. And anything with his name attached to it will die a slow death on the chairmans desk. It's not your fault you don't know much but it is your fault you will blindly follow an idiot over the cliff.

4:28 - 'expenditures on the site' includes the purchase of the land and the purchase of the swap lands for the 16th section acreage. Laying down the pad is sitework, kinda like clearing and grubbing. Its not the construction package.

despite the public education establishment opposition, Joel won handily. so, madison county must be much more open to school choice than 5:22 is. Get ready, because it is coming to Madison as the poster child. Vouchers for Madison Central and MRA.

Coach Deuse is licking his chops for sure.

Its amazing when you think about it that Hinds County and Clinton and Mississippi could actually pull this off without killing each other. Maybe there is hope after all. Of course, it didn't involve Stokes.

February 3, 2016 6:47 PM said:
"Mississippi has had (and closed) tire plants in the past. The most prominent one that comes to mind is Armstrong Tire and Rubber of Natchez ”

The low information union workers killed the Natchez tire plant.
(under all owners - Armstrong, Fidelity & finally Titan)

The same union mindset in Natchez also closed the mill at International Paper along with the last remaining manufacturing plant down there . . Johns Manville.

There is hope @8:40 everytime Jackson is cut out of the equation.

More from Russel Latino, Mississippi's most active anti-business advocate. Here is another of his FB post today. "I disagree with some of my friends who voted for today's $275 million transfer to private businesses. I've voiced that disagreement as a matter of policy, but don't intend it as a weapon. We can disagree on one thing and agree on many others. My hope is that many in the legislature will focus on promoting limited government that protects taxpayers." So good Ole Russ doesn't understand a basic math rule. Any percent of something is better than 100% of nothing. If it was up to Ole Russ, we wouldn't try to recruit any business to Mississippi because Mississippi is SO fantastic, people just flock to us in droves, without the stick-and carrot. People like Russ want to cling to their ideology so much regardless of common sense. I can't fix stupid but I can expose it.

I think we can all agree that anyone who gives up a law practice to become an advocate is a blithering and total idiot. Russell Latino would make the perfect libtard democrat. Anti-business and political advocasy, Obama cabinet qualifier.

@8:26 Joel won cause he spent more to get elected to the legislature than anyone in Mississippi history. And he presented himself as an honest, Christian though he never lived in the district. He touted how conservative he was but spent over a quarter million on a job that pays 12k. He went around to all the public schools and in his mail out talked about how he supported public education, but the Supt. of schools knew it was a lie and supported his opponent. He got 10k from Barkesdale because he told him he supported public schools but Barkesdale discovered he was lying and withdrew his support. So he may be in your camp but he lied to the other. If this is your idea of a honest, trustworthy elected official, then your as much as a hypocrite as he is. Your all like a bunch of liberals, the end justifies the means.

"Vouchers for Madison Central"

Madison residents have to pay to send their kids to MCHS? Who knew? :-)

So; This project is defended, in part, oddly, by claiming other industries, similar in nature, haved closed down because of unions. Close a union plant here and open a non-union plant there. What makes you think this new plant will not fall prey to collective bargaining? Certainly it will be a quick target. Union organizers will camp out at every cheap motel in Clinton. Sign printers, strip joints and chicken huts will all benefit from that traffic.

And the black reps and senators, the black preachers and assorted other perpetually disgruntled folk will support the union getting into this new plant. Eric Fleming, deposed state rep from Jackson, will surface again as a pro-union proponent. He sponsored bills EVERY DAMNED YEAR that would have, if passed, prop up unions. None of them saw the light of day.

Anybody remember Delhi-Packard? Can the bricks from those buildings be used here, just down the road a piece?

...strip joints and chicken huts will all benefit from that traffic.

You mean Bennietown, er, Bolton?

10:09....it won't be Madison residents getting the vouchers to attend Madison schools. They may have to widen I-55 again for all of the new students.

lets be clear--there are a lot of west jackson athletes that will gladly take the voucher and go play football at MCHS. there will be a lot of babymamas taking government vouchers and putting their kids at madison station. get ready to build a lot of buildings at MRA, Prep, JA, St. Joes, St Andrews and others. in a short time theres going to be a student boom!

No, 6:54, the union organizers won't be staying in Bolton and these people have tremendous expense accounts and love them some night life. No hotel rooms for rent in BennieCity. But, Bennie will support unionization just like he does at Nissan. The reps and organizers will all camp out in Jackson or Clinton or Casino-Town to the west, and you can rest assured they WILL come if we build it.

If, as suggested by some of the 'experts' (above), 70% of the hires will be folk from Jacktown, you can bet your ass a union vote will pass.

the athletes of the metro area have been getting a free ride at MRA for a long time. MRA is not bound by the recruiting rules that MCHS is, but this legislature is about the change that.

Prep welcomes the vouchers. They've hired a Diversity Officer and he needs something to do. Diversity promotes excellence. Don't you agree?

Where do you think the Nissan employees come from 9:23? Canton?

Got news for you. The parents who are going to the trouble to get their kids in better schools are not the ones to worry about. They are the ones who actually care about their kids. The ones to worry about are the ones who don't- and there are too many of them.

This will end up like every other plant that moved to Ms. It will hire locals to do the construction until they get so far behind they can never catch up. When they get tired of the locals leaning on the shovels and missing work they will hire illegals to get the job done.
When the plant is built they will try to hire a few locals. It will not be long until they find there isn't enough workers with the skills and education to make a tire. They will bring in their own workers.
Since they will not be paying taxes it will not help the state.
All of the management will be brought in from other states.
After the plant is in production the union organizers will start their work. NAACP will join in because there isn't enough blacks working in the plant.

That is just the Mississippi way of doing things.

Come on, somebody post something about Joel or the NAACP or vouchers or something to keep this thread going in circles.

By the way 10:22, there are plenty of plants prospering all over Mississippi. Its the people like you that keep more from moving here.

1:16, the thing that is keeping many plants from moving to Ms. is the lack of educated and experienced workers. It doesn't make much sense to build as plant where the majority of the people do not have a high school diploma.

Well lets don't let you carry the flag for the state. pun intended.

I would venture to say that your comment on the "majority" is pretty inaccurate.

A friend in the legislature just forwarded me this. Apparently Bomgar sent it to the House.

"A question was asked yesterday that I was certain that I knew the answer to, but I wanted to double-check and make absolutely sure before answering. After double-checking, I can confidently say that Bomgar Corporation did not and has never been given any government money, neither through Innovate Mississippi, or any other government or taxpayer-funded source."

Do white kids go into cultural shock when they go to college and see African Americans, Indians, Iranians, Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and every other race known to man? By reading some of these comments, I'm convinced that there are white kids in Mississippi who have never even had a conversation with anyone who was non-White. Some of you parents had better warn your children that there are other races of people in this world.

Good idea 12:12. And while at it, might ought to do the same warning to the adults in Rankin County that think they have a right to an airport just because they don't know that black folks can legally be in charge of something.

"Where do you think the Nissan employees come from 9:23? Canton?"

Ah, nope. News reports for the past 14 years reveal that Nissan employees come from at least 48 counties in Mississippi. If they came only from Jackson and Canton, they'd have a union. But that ain't the case.

If they came only from Jackson and Canton, they'd have a union. But that ain't the case.

And that's a very good thing.

"Do white kids go into cultural shock when they go to college and see African Americans, Indians, Iranians, Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and every other race known to man?"

Interesting theory. Can you document just one case of this happening?

Thought not.

BTW - two examples to Katt Williamsdisrupt your belief system. The C-L ran apiece shortly after 2000 about a group of kids in south Jackson, more than half of whom have never set foot outside of a 36 block area. By that time my then 4-year-old had defied the Secret Service and put his toe on the carpet of the Oval Office after we had been told not to enter it, laughing while he defied them. I guess some parents (aka sperm donors) just aren't that interested in providing cultural and educational opportunities for their kids I wonder if those kids are still trapped in those 26 blocks.

The other was an comedian named Katt Williams (I think it was him). When he first got famous he told people he had never spoken to a white person until he was 19. Sounds like things are about 180 degrees off from your narrow-minded, bigoted perceptions of white people.

PS I have a feeling you weren't in that really long, mainly white line of people at Lemuria summer before last to meet Ben Carson and encourage him to run for president. Jeepers, Wally - it looks like character does count for some people.

Sorry to have reality intrude on your delusions about a monolithic bloc of klukkers that doesn't exist.

Mississippi has the lowest union participation in the country. And, yes, that's a good thing. Never claimed otherwise. Just predicting that if, as is widely claimed, upwards of 70% of employees at the maypop factory 'come from Jackson', it will become a union shop.

The primary non-employee union proponents at Nissan have been minority preachers and other black business leaders and congressman Bennie Thompson and a few black legislators.

And, if that happens, it will be the beginning of the end. I would also point out that it's illegal for the employer to ask a job applicant if they are or ever have been a member of a union or what their opinion of unions is.

@6:07 and other union haters. I realize that unions have seriously outgrown their original purpose, but have you ever entertained the idea that if we had recognized unions/ organized labor for certain trades in industry that we might have workers with marketable skillsets? Maybe the proper word to describe what I'm referring to would be a guild? I dunno. Just a thought.

I'm glad to see that work force training is being implemented here and there. It's highly needed.

Unions were never set up to help black people. The 1900s unions were set up to protect uneducated whites from competition from black laborers.

Now the unions just sign up whoever will pay dues. The union bosses just need more suckers.