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'Racist POS' Mike Collins Cheers Video of Ole Miss Mob Attack on Black Student
"This is not about Israel, Palestine, or Gaza. This is old-fashioned American racism and misogyny," said one observer. "These are the types of young white men who will grow up to be Republican governors, senators, and members of Congress."
May 03, 2024
Republican Georgia Congressman Mike Collins came under fire Friday over a social media post applauding video of white University of Mississippi students racially abusing a Black woman participating in a campus protest for Palestine.
Collins posted the video—in which numerous people can be heard grunting like apes and one young man is seen jumping up and down like a monkey in front of the Black woman—with the caption, "Ole Miss taking care of business."
Collins—or whoever's in charge of his social media accounts—sparred with Black leaders who called out his racism. When former Democratic Ohio state senator Nina Turner said the video showed "anti-Blackness," the congressman shot back, "*Anti-terroristness."
When Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) accused Collins of "fueling white supremacy," the Republican retorted, "Don't take down any more signs at our workplace, please" along with a photo of the Democrat triggering a fire alarm in a House of Representatives office building last year.
Around 30 protesters were rallying in support of Palestine in the Ole Miss Quad when counter-protesters gathered near the demonstrators. Some booed and chanted, "We want Trump!" Others singled out the Black woman—who NBC Newssaid is a graduate student at the school—chanting "Lizzo, Lizzo, Lizzo," "take a shower," "your nose is huge," "fuck you, fat bitch," and "lock her up!"
The counter-protesters also sang the "Star-Spangled Banner." Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves shared a separate video of the singing students on social media, captioning his post, "Warms my heart" and "I love Mississippi."
No racist language can be heard in the video shared by Reeves.
The Daily Mississippianreports the demonstrators were escorted off the Quad after counter-protesters threw water bottles at them.
Collins is no stranger to accusations of racism. Earlier this year, he suggested murdering migrants by throwing them from helicopters into the sea, in the manner of U.S.-backed South American dictators in the 1970s.
He also
introduced the Restricting Administration Zealots from Obliging Raiders (RAZOR) Act, which would ban the federal government from removing or altering "any state-constructed barriers installed to mitigate illegal immigration," such as the razor buoys installed in the Rio Grande by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Collins was also
accused of antisemitism after he amplified a social media post by an avowed neo-Nazi targeting a Washington Post reporter for being Jewish.
Ole Miss said Friday that "statements were made at the demonstration on our campus Thursday that were offensive and inappropriate."
"We cannot comment specifically about that video, but the university is looking into reports about specific actions," the school added. "Any actions that violate university policy will be met with appropriate action."
The Ole Miss incident comes amid rapidly spreading campus protests across the U.S. and around the world in response to Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza, which has killed, maimed, or left missing around 5% of the embattled strip's 2.3 million people, most of them civilians, while forcibly displacing nearly 9 in 10 people and driving hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation.
While numerous Ole Miss students said they did not understand what the pro-Palestine protesters hoped to accomplish, others voiced support for the demonstrators—and for Palestine.
"As we've seen throughout history, time and time again, the student movement is never wrong. Time and time again, anytime there's a student protest, and you're against it, you're on the wrong side of history," Xavier Black, a junior majoring in international studies, told
The Daily Mississippian. "So I would like to be on the right side."
One Palestinian American Ole Miss student was teary-eyed as she thanked the protesters.
"Hey guys, I know that what just happened was really intimidating, and it was a little scary, but I just want to say I'm so proud of you guys," the student—who gave only her first name, Jana—said,
according toMississippi Today. "This wasn't going to happen... without all of you guys. Palestine was being heard. And I just want to thank you guys so much."
"I know that was such a big risk, but this is the most that people have ever thought for us, so don't give up," she added. "I know that was really hard, but we need to keep fighting. This was just the start of it, okay?"
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Groups Press Biden EPA to Take Emergency Action Amid Jackson's Ongoing Water Crisis
"Water is life," said one organizer. "This petition is about making sure our voices, and our needs as residents, are centered in this process."
Aug 10, 2023
A coalition of Mississippi and national advocacy groups on Wednesday filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency imploring urgent action to provide relief for communities suffering an ongoing water crisis in Jackson, the state capital.
The Mississippi Poor People's Campaign (PPC-MS) and the People's Advocacy Institute (PAI) led the petition on behalf of the Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition. The filing—which was submitted under a provision of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)—asks the EPA to use its emergency powers to order national, state, and local government agencies to ensure Jackson residents have access to safe drinking water and real-time alert systems to notify them about tap water issues.
"We are absolutely committed to ensuring that our communities are heard," PPC-MS organizer Danyelle Holmes said in a statement. "We are talking about our health, our lives, our ability to make a living. Water is life. This petition is about making sure our voices, and our needs as residents, are centered in this process. It's only right."
As the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a coalition member, explained:
In August 2022, flooding shut down Jackson's main water treatment plant, leaving thousands without safe drinking water. For the 160,000 residents of this 83% African-American city, this was only one episode in a multigenerational environmental injustice that has included lead contamination, hundreds of "boil water notices" due to the risk of the presence of disease-causing pathogens, and three complete shutoffs. A lack of trust in the system led most residents to stop drinking the water years ago.
Last November, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Jackson on behalf of the EPA over the city's failure to provide residents with safe drinking water. City and state agencies subsequently agreed to accept federal oversight of Jackson's water system. The DOJ hired Tedd Henifin—the retired manager of the Hampton Roads Sanitation District in Virginia—for one year at $400,000 to oversee an overhaul of Jackson's water system.
But coalition members allege Henifin "has excluded community members from regular, institutionalized engagement; failed to consistently and transparently inform residents about the status of the water system and repairs that led to the EPA filing the SDWA suit; and contracted with nonlocal businesses."
Brooke Floyd, co-director of coalition member JXN People's Assembly at the PAI, said: "What's been missing in this process is community. This is about our health and safety, and these issues are too important to be decided without our participation."
Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves—who on the campaign trail cited the role he played as lieutenant governor in blocking funding for Jackson's failing water system as proof of his fiscal conservatism—said last year that he is open to privatizing the system, which was suffering from decades of discriminatory neglect long before the current crisis.
Although Congress has allocated over $600 million to fix Jackson's water system, it is unclear how much of that will actually be spent on its intended purpose, given Reeves' boast.
As CCR noted, "The Jackson water crisis is similar to those facing other majority-Black and Latinx cities and communities around the country."
"Corroded and outdated water and wastewater systems," the group says, "are threatening the health of residents in, among other places, Alexandria, Louisiana; Baltimore, Maryland; Laredo, Texas; and Lowndes County, Alabama."
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Tennessee, Mississippi GOP Move to Ban 'Lifesaving' Healthcare for Trans Youth
"Legislators are risking trans young people's health, well-being, and safety with this dangerous legislation," said an ACLU of Tennessee staff attorney, urging the governor to veto the bill.
Feb 23, 2023
In moves that alarmed advocates for transgender youth, the Tennessee and Mississippi GOP-dominated legislatures this week sent bills banning gender-affirming care for minors to their Republican governors' desks.
Even though organizations including the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, and American Psychiatric Association support gender-affirming care for young people, GOP state lawmakers nationwide have recently introduced bills intended to restrict or outlaw it.
The Tennessee House of Representatives on Thursday voted 77-16 on House Bill 1, with three Democrats joining Republicans to pass the measure, which the state Senate passed 26-6 last week.
Under H.B. 1, doctors could not provide healthcare such as hormone therapies, puberty blockers, or surgical procedures to trans minors, with limited exceptions for care that began before the bill would take effect on July 1. Those who violate the pending law could face a state attorney general probe and a $25,000 fine.
"We know from the research that access to transgender-related healthcare is critical to the physical and mental health of transgender people and their ability to thrive in their daily lives," said Emma Chinn co-author of LGBTQ+ Tennesseans, special projects coordinator at the Campaign for Southern Equality, and a master of public policy candidate at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
"As a Tennessean, I feel furious that my state is taking steps to make life more challenging for transgender young people," Chinn added. "I am more committed than ever to finding ways to support families and center the powerful voices of young people in the months ahead."
As The Tennessean reported Thursday:
The bill will soon be sent to Gov. Bill Lee's desk, which kicks off a 10-day countdown, not including Sundays, for Lee to sign it into law. Even if Lee chooses not to sign, the bill becomes law without his signature unless he vetoes it.
Though he rarely takes an explicit position on pending bills, Lee on Friday signaled he is "supportive" of the bill's content.
ACLU of Tennessee staff attorney Lucas Cameron-Vaughn promised a court fight if the GOP governor does not veto the bill.
"We are deeply disturbed that state politicians have voted to interfere with the ability of families to make decisions, in consultation with medical professionals, to provide critical care for young people who are transgender," Cameron-Vaughn said. "All Tennesseans should have access to the healthcare they need to survive and thrive."
"Gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth is safe, necessary, effective, and often lifesaving," the lawyer stressed. "Legislators are risking trans young people’s health, well-being, and safety with this dangerous legislation. We urge Gov. Lee to veto this overreaching, discriminatory bill, or we will see him in court."
"We urge Gov. Lee to veto this overreaching, discriminatory bill, or we will see him in court."
Cameron-Vaughn's colleague McKenna Raney-Gray, LGBTQ Justice Project staff attorney at the ACLU of Mississippi, delivered a similar message about House Bill 1125 to GOP Gov. Tate Reeves earlier this week.
After the Mississippi House of Representatives last month passed that bill 78-30, with four Democrats joining Republicans, the state Senate on Tuesday approved it 33-15, voting along party lines.
"This is a devastating development for transgender youth in Mississippi and heartbreaking for all of us who love and support them," said the ACLU's Raney-Gray. "This care was already too difficult to access across the state for transgender people of any age, but this law shuts the door on best-practice medical care and puts politics between parents, their children, and their doctors."
In a letter to Reeves, Raney-Gray wrote that "if enacted, this legislation will deny children lifesaving, medically necessary healthcare and violate the constitutional rights of Mississippians," and urged him to veto the ban.
However, Reeves vowed to sign the legislation, tweeting Tuesday that "sterilizing and castrating children in the name of new gender ideology is wrong. That plain truth is somehow controversial in today's world. I called for us to stop these sick experimental treatments, and I look forward to getting the bill."
\u201cMore than 360 anti-LGBTQ+ bills are moving through state legislatures right now.\n\nWe are officially tracking more bills targeting the transgender community than ever before. Over 90 of those anti-trans bills are attempting to ban affirming medical care.\u201d— Human Rights Campaign (@Human Rights Campaign) 1677083483
Mickie Stratos, president of the Spectrum Center of Hattiesburg, emphasized that "Mississippi legislators are positioning H.B. 1125 as a measure to protect kids, when the reality is that this bill will do the exact opposite. Access to gender-affirming medical care is a top indicator of healthy and positive outcomes for trans people."
"To criminalize that care is a direct assault on the physical, emotional, and mental health of trans youth, and we will see negative outcomes for our trans youth and their families in [Mississippi] as a result," they warned. "Regardless of the outcome of this legislation, we will remain here in Mississippi to support, affirm, love, and care for the trans folks and their families impacted by this attack."
Ivy Hill, director of gender justice for the Campaign for Southern Equality, said that "this bill—and an overwhelming wave of similar legislation moving quickly in states across the country—is cruelly targeting transgender youth and their doctors. To every trans young person who feels attacked, marginalized, or fearful for the future: Please know that you are loved, you are supported, and there is queer community across the state and nationwide who care about you and are joining with you in solidarity."
As part of that wave, GOP Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed into law a ban on gender-affirming care for youth last month, and Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed another last week.
While similar bills have advanced in Nebraska and Oklahoma, "a federal judge who blocked Arkansas' ban on gender-affirming care for minors is now considering whether to strike down the law as unconstitutional," The Associated Pressreported Thursday. "A similar ban in Alabama has also been temporarily blocked by a federal judge."
This post has been updated with comment from Emma Chinn.
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