NATCHEZ - The South has changed a lot since New York state
Senator Nancy Hoffman first traveled to Mississippi as a civil
rights worker in the summer of 1970.
"There's no comparison at all," said the Syracuse,
N.Y. native in Adams County and Concordia Parish this week with
a group of New York high school students as part of an annual
civil rights tour.
While Hoffman originally intended to help with family-planning
efforts in the Port Gibson area in 1970, she eventually became
involved in local politics, organizing meetings and coordinating
voter registration programs.
"I did whatever was needed," she said.
Remembering the social climate three decades ago, Hoffman said
Mississippi is now drastically different.
"The racial issues that divided the South are virtually
nonexistent today," she said.
One of the more striking examples of that change, she said,
can be seen in restaurants and stores.
The simple fact that blacks and whites shop and eat together,
Hoffman said, points to the victory of the civil rights movement.
In her annual tours, Hoffman tries to show students the gains
in racial equality were not made entirely by "superstars"
like Martin Luther King Jr., but rather by normal people.
"I try to give the students an opportunity to meet with
ordinary people who were part of the civil rights movement,"
Hoffman said. "We look for people who played quiet but important
roles."
Hoffman said her students are often shocked to learn of the
sacrifices and struggles that were made during the civil rights
movement.
And that, she said, is her intention.
"It's a spectacular history lesson."
