Jackson, MS Airport Gets A New Name

On Tuesday, February 8, 2005, the Jackson (MS) City Council voted to change the name of the Jackson International Airport to the Jackson-Evers International Airport, honoring Medgar Evers, the first field secretary of the Mississippi NAACP. Evers worked fearlessly for equality, racial reconciliation, and most importantly, the right to vote, in Mississippi. For his efforts he was slain, shot in the back in his driveway. He was 37 years old.

The airport's new name feels like a particularly personal development because on our civil rights road trip in 2003 we were hard-pressed to find evidence of Mississippi's participation in the Civil Rights Movement. Where were the statues? The museums? The parks? Anything? We eventually made it to Evers' house, now a historic landmark, and touched the driveway where he fell.

The naming of the airport is also a lovely testament to the American South's evolving history. The city of Jackson is of course named for Andrew Jackson, who was a friend of the common white man, but no lover of Native Americans or Blacks. Now Jackson and Evers share the honor of representing the capital of the state, bearing witness to the slow but steady progress of history. As an example of layered and juxtaposed history, the new Jackson-Evers International Airport is almost as delicious as the intersection of Jefferson Davis Drive and Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd in Selma, Alabama. Almost, but not quite.

Congratulations and kudos the city of Jackson, Mississippi! Check out the full story on the Clarion-Ledger.

Brief aside: My mother was Medgar Evers' niece's roommate in college. Does that make me cool by association? You bet it does.