“Let’s tell the truth if it bursts the bottom of the universe. We came here to exclude the Negro.” These vile words echoed throughout Mississippi’s Capitol Building on August 12, 1890, as delegates convened to plan a new state constitution. Perhaps a strong rebuttal would come from Mississippi’s only Black delegate, Isaiah Montgomery. But no.
Three months later, the state’s new constitution took effect, imposing poll taxes and literacy tests that prevented Black men from voting. This sinister strategy inspired other Southern states to follow suit. Shockingly, Montgomery, one of the founders of Mount Bayou, once the largest Black town in the United States, voted IN FAVOR of this constitution.
In a statement following the ratification of the constitution, Montgomery claimed that in the long run, it would help the “two great races” grow together. While it’s an unsatisfying answer, let’s keep it real -- the new constitution was going to pass no matter how he voted.
In his later years, Montgomery expressed regret to Booker T. Washington and complained that the other delegates had stabbed him in the back. But what did he expect, when they’d already been stabbing us in the front for centuries?
Montgomery’s dilemma reminds us that colonial systems aren’t designed to empower or even protect us. So our decisions must be rooted in our own principles, values, and interests.