City Council unanimously denounces portrayal of Jackson in ‘60 Minutes’ report
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - The Jackson City Council unanimously approved a resolution to denounce a recent 60 Minutes report for its portrayal of the capital city.
Councilman Kenneth Stokes introduced the resolution after Jackson residents’ recent backlash, saying that Jackson has parts of its city that need work just like any other major city in America.
“Jackson, in that negative light, people will never come to Jackson, Mississippi,” he said. “People will never come to the state of Mississippi. If you want to show something bad about Jackson, then still show something bad about the city in Colorado also.”
Jackson residents have been very vocal since the report’s debut. Terrence Shirley, who has family in Colorado, recently held an event in Jackson because of that report.
“I have a son in Denver. So I know what Colorado can look like,” said Shirley. “So where we have in Jackson, they have in Colorado. And so I was really interested in making sure that people understood that that one snapshot, that national audience of 60 Minutes, does not convey what Jackson actually is and what Jackson can be.”
The council wants all the citizens of Jackson to understand they support their community and the city itself, including the good and the bad.
“That type of imagery,” said Mayor Lumumba, “projects a message that the people who live in those communities are less than. And I want to be clear that that is not true. While we have some work to do in order to lift up their community and support them, we want to be clear that we have love and appreciation for all parts of Jackson.”
The council will now send a copy of this resolution to every Mississippi media outlet, 60 Minutes, and its corporate offices.
A representative with 60 Minutes has since released the following statement:
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