The newly elected chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party Judge Tyree Irving says he doesn’t plan to head an all black party. He says white people fled the party over the years and he wants to convince them to come back. Irving says there has been a concerted effort to create a narrative that Democrats are catering to blacks. He puts it this way.
“Democrats are all about just giving away money and stuff to lazy black people who are not working, who don’t want to work. Quite frankly, that’s just not the truth,” said Irving.
Irving, a retired Mississippi Court of Appeals judge, presided over a panel of judges. He says he has the communications skills and integrity to have frank discussions with white people about who benefits from safety net programs like Medicare and Social Security which were instituted by Democratic Administrations. He says the majority of the assistance in the state is received by whites.
“I’m going to speak the truth armed with statistics about what white folks are receiving in the state and explain to them that Republicans have voted against all of that stuff and continue to do so,” said Irving.
In 2018, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 67 percent of whites in Mississippi received Medicare benefits compared to 31 percent of blacks.
Irving, who is a Greenwood native, says in order for the Democratic Party to move forward, black and white Mississippians must work together. He says it’s time for those who left the party to return home.
