In Mississippi's religious freedom law, some see echoes of a shameful past
By Kevin Conlon, CNN
Updated 7:51 AM ET, Fri April 22, 2016
Jackson, Mississippi (CNN)It wasn't too long ago that lawmakers in Mississippi would invoke verse and scripture to justify discrimination.
"The good Lord was the original segregationist," proclaimed Ross Barnett, Mississippi's governor, in the early 1960s. "He made the white man white and the black man black, and he did not intend for them to mix.''
For much of the past century, that's the way it was in Mississippi, whose history is stained by civil rights-era prejudice and violence. From the lynching of Emmett Till to riots over desegregation at Ole Miss, it's a legacy that modern-day Mississippi wants to leave behind.
But now, decades later, comes a controversial new law -- passed in the name of religion -- that critics decry as state-sanctioned bigotry against gays, lesbians and transgender residents. And some here are wondering whether Mississippi's shameful past is once again rearing its ugly head.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/22/health/mississippi-religious-freedom-law-civil-rights-era/
2:29 video at link.
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