Tougaloo College Reports Threats After Rep. Jasmine Crockett Gives Commencement Speech Comparing Trump To Jim Crow

Black America Web

09-05-2025

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Administrators at Tougaloo College, in Jackson, Mississippi, have contacted law enforcement over threats the school allegedly received, all because Rep. Jasmine Crockett gave a commencement speech there and told the truth about President Donald Trump and his administration's disastrous (and probably intentional) impact on civil rights and Black people.
According to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, Crockett's speech last Sunday drew parallels between the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and the social and political climate under the current federal administration, which has made more than a habit out of defunding or threatening to defund any institution that promotes non-whitewashed Black history or any other 'improper ideology' that makes Trump's orangey-white fragility stand up on its end.
From the Ledger:
After acknowledging Anne Moody and Memphis Norman, Tougaloo students who played pivotal roles in the 1963 Woolworth's sit-in in Jackson, Crockett mentioned President Donald Trump specifically.
'Sadly enough, in the year of our Lord 2025, sitting in these very classrooms is just as much of a protest as Anne and Memphis pulling up to Woolworths in 1963,' Crockett said. 'It's the paradox and parallels for me. … As I stand here in this safe space, still only one of the few places that an institution can invite me to speak.'
Crockett paused as she looked to the audience for a response.
'Okay, so that went over some of y'all's heads, but my 50-year grads understood what I was putting down,' Crockett continued, pointing to the Class of 1975 members who were honored Sunday for their 50th anniversary of graduating.
'To think about the fact that people have to be fearful of having a sitting member of Congress to come and address their graduates, tells us that we still got a lot of work to do,' Crockett said. 'The president of the United States having a temper tantrum that strips funding because I'm Black and I'm proud should not be something that we are dealing with in 2025.'
Crockett compared her speech on the Tougaloo campus to the 1960s, when the campus served as a safe space for civil rights leaders such as Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
'The work done by so many like Bennie (Thompson), Medgar (Evers) and Fannie Lou Hamer are under attack,' Crockett said. 'Instead of calling us the 'N word,' they use racist epithets and suggest that we're ghetto, or unqualified or diversity hires, even though we're all, more oftentimes than not, more educated and qualified than they are. I have news for you. These attacks are not new because Jim Crow never died. He just lied (sic) in wait.'
Again, all Crockett did was tell the truth about a president who, on day one, signed executive orders that effectively rolled back civil rights era legislation. She did not lie when she spoke about the oppressive nature of an administration that has propagandized DEI in order to justify its all-out attack on diversity initiatives across the country, especially those that seek to address racial disparities. Crockett didn't draw false parallels between Jim Crow and an administration that has literally ended desegregation policies while manipulating civil rights legislation that ended Jim Crow by perverting the spirit of those laws to address fictional anti-white discrimination. She told not one lie about the 'racist epithets' that the MAGA world has normalized, reflexively calling Black professionals 'DEI hires' and calling Crockett herself 'ghetto' just because she's so unapologetically Black.
Trump's administration cares so little about Black Americans that it ended a wastewater settlement for a mostly Black Alabama town — where residents had complained about sewage-related issues for years — just because environmental racism (or as Trump officials called it, DEI) had been brought up when the settlement was being reached. Honestly, Crockett went light on this white nationalist-friendly White House.
Crockett didn't lie, but MAGA loyalists apparently got mad enough at the truth to threaten Tougaloo College.
More from the Ledger:
Tougaloo President Donzell Lee sent a letter to the Tougaloo community on Monday, May 5 addressing 'concerning calls' regarding Crockett's speech.
'We are not taking these occurrences lightly,' the letter reads. 'Appropriate actions have been taken. Contact has been made with law enforcement authorities to ensure that safety protocols are in place, if needed.'
Although the letter does not specify these threats, the college president encouraged anyone who receives a call to report to Vice President Donavon Coley.
Crockett addressed the alleged threats on X Wednesday.
'No low is too low for MAGA … now explain to me why an institution would be receiving threats because of the commencement speech that I GAVE,' she wrote. 'This type of behavior is why I'm constantly having to be protected and I understand that truth telling in this country; sadly, is a dangerous business, but college students don't deserve this. As a side note: you consistently prove me right and just as this was the only campus that MLK could speak at in Mississippi in the 1960s … it's 2025, and this country is still stuck on hate … I'm proud to say Tougaloo is tough and so am I.'
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Rep. Jasmine Crockett Wants To Take On Trump In An IQ Test
Op-Ed: Jasmine Crockett Can't Have It Both Ways
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Tougaloo College Reports Threats After Rep. Jasmine Crockett Gives Commencement Speech Comparing Trump To Jim Crow was originally published on newsone.com