African Americans in Mississippi
African Americans in Mississippi are residents of the state of Mississippi who are of African American ancestry. As of the 2019 U.S. Census estimates, African Americans were 37.8% of the state's population.[1]
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History
As the demographer William H. Frey noted, "In Mississippi, I think it's [identifying as mixed race] changed from within."[2] Historically in Mississippi, after Indian removal in the 1830s, the major groups were designated as black (African American), who were then mostly enslaved, and white (primarily European American). Matthew Snipp, also a demographer, commented on the increase in the 21st century in the number of people identifying as being of more than one race: "In a sense, they're rendering a more accurate portrait of their racial heritage that in the past would have been suppressed."[2]
After having accounted for a majority of the state's population since well before the Civil War and through the 1930s, today African Americans constitute approximately 37 percent of the state's population. Most have ancestors who were enslaved, with many forcibly transported from the Upper South in the 19th century to work on the area's new plantations. Some of these slaves were mixed race, with European ancestors, as there were many children born into slavery with white fathers. Some also have Native American ancestry.[3] During the first half of the 20th century, a total of nearly 400,000 African Americans left the state during the Great Migration, for opportunities in the North, Midwest and West. They became a minority in the state for the first time since early in its development.
Notable people
- Big K.R.I.T. - Rapper, record producer
- David Banner - Rapper, record producer, actor, activist
- Mae Bertha Carter - Figure of the Civil Rights Movement
- Fannie Lou Hamer - Figure of the Civil Rights Movement
- John M. Perkins - Figure of the Civil Rights Movement
- B.B. King - Musician
- Oprah Winfrey - Television personality
- Jerry Rice - NFL Football Player with the San Francisco 49ers
- Walter Payton NFL Football Player with the Chicago Bears
- Brandy Norwood Singer, actor
- Jerome Barkum - NFL Football Player with the New York Jets
- Lester Young - Musician, Tenor Saxophone
- Muddy Waters - Musician
- Howlin Wolf - Musician
- Elmore James - Musician
See also
- Education segregation in the Mississippi Delta
- History of slavery in Mississippi
- Mississippi-in-Africa
References
- "Mississippi QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau". Quickfacts.census.gov. 2019. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
- Susan Saulny, "Black and White and Married in the Deep South: A Shifting Image", The New York Times, March 20, 2011, accessed October 25, 2012
- "Mississippi QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau". Quickfacts.census.gov. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
External links
