For the U.S., Mississippi and Madison County, Time Will Tell

A couple of months ago a friend of mine, Mark McComb, a professor at the School of Business at Mississippi College told me about demographic data that had been published in the Wall Street Journal on May 17, 2012.  He was kind enough to send me a link to his blog which contained the story.

After looking at the data, it becomes apparent that if we can't figure out how to get along better racially and politically then we are going to have a difficult time, nationally, statewide and on a local level.  The Wall Street Journal story breaks down the country, state by state, county by county.  One map shows the current demographic percentage that is minority.  The next map shows the racial makeup of the county using the data of non-white children under the age of five.  The map change will be significant throughout the United States and in Mississippi.

If you go by the theory that ninety percent of all black voters will vote Democrat, then the Republican Party must make immediate changes to be more inclusive of those who are not white.  In some ways, inclusion is not necessary for the Democrats, which is sad.  From the data that I reviewed, they simply have time on their side. 

On a very local level, Madison County, Mississippi, currently is 55.8% white.  The population under the age of five in that same county is 44.9%.  That could be a significant swing racially and politically in a local metro county.  Could Madison County have a majority minority Board of Supervisors in twenty years?  It is possible.   Would that same board be majority Democrat?  Probably. 

Other counties with similar demographic shifts in Mississippi are Amite, Attala, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Forrest, Grenada, Lauderdale, Lowndes, Montgomery, Neshoba, Oktibbeha, Scott, Walthall and Winston.

Hopefully, and to be honest, I don't have a lot of hope, I would love to see two things:  First, a Mississippi Democratic Party that had the ability to truly organize itself and to get over the "we're going to get you back" mentality as it relates to race inside their party.  Second, a Mississippi Republican Party that has the ability to "get over itself" and take a stand that is somewhere right of right of center instead of the extreme far right.  Inclusion is the key word for both parties.

A black Democratic party and a white Republican party will not be good for Mississippi.  Time will tell and time is on the Democrats side.