Mississippi Delta – Land Lost: He was armed with a small sheep knife on his side when he came around the corner. The knife was not exposed, but on a strap around his shoulder as if to say that he means business.
“You need to leave now,” he growled at several men on his property behind a market that he has owned for about 30+ years. The men were sitting around on old milk crates that were previously stacked behind his store. The area in which they were sitting was once a car wash behind the market in Drew, Mississippi.
After the men walked away he told me in a tone that made me quickly realize he has grown tired of cleaning their mess, “They sit around and drink all day and litter my property (pointing at a pile of liquor bottles and beer cans).”
The men slowly walked away as if they knew the routine, once again leaving behind beer cans.
The poverty rate is 36.1% in Drew City, which is in Sunflower County, Mississippi. It is the 8th poorest county in the state. In Sunflower County, only 70.2% of adults 25 and older have a high school diploma or higher education. The per capita income over the past 12 months stands at a low $12,177 in Sunflower County.