Anthony Witherspoon’s reaction to the story in Tuesday’s Enterprise-Journal about his new business ventures in Africa was curious indeed.
The story was based on a video the former Magnolia mayor posted to Facebook about his current work in Tanzania, a nation on the east coast of Africa. The story quoted his video directly several times about how he wants to encourage Black Americans to visit their Mother Land and even consider relocating to the continent.
It all sounds interesting — a big and different opportunity that explains why he unexpectedly resigned last year from an elected position that he probably could have held for as long as he wished.
It was a bit odd, though, that as an elected official Witherspoon chose not to discuss his plans publicly. At the least, it would have been a great opportunity to do what his original video did: Promote Africa.
But he’s under no obligation to talk to this newspaper or anyone else, and after he announced he was stepping down, he did not respond to the paper’s efforts to reach him by phone and social media.
Given that, Witherspoon’s reaction to the story was puzzling. After it came out, he posted another video online in which he said he would run for Magnolia mayor again this year to prevent the city from falling under the control of “Trump Republicans.” He also said the Enterprise-Journal’s first story about his new work was an effort to call his Magnolia residency into question and to continue a false media narrative about Africa.
His one legitimate objection to the first story was that it included a picture of two giraffes running across a dirt road. This did not fairly represent Witherspoon’s work in Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania that has a population of 7 million (and means “place of peace” in Arabic).
A second story, in Thursday’s paper, was based on another video Witherspoon posted online. He may not wish to speak to the newspaper about the topic, but here are some questions that come to mind:
• You said the first story about Tanzania was an attempt to question your residency in Magnolia. Residency can only be a concern if you planned to run for re-election this year. If that’s the case, why bother resigning?
• If instead you were resigning to devote a large amount of time to opportunities in Tanzania, why not set up a “succession plan” in which a trusted ally would run for mayor?
• If elected, how many weeks or months in the coming four years do you expect to spend in Tanzania, and how many in Magnolia? Can someone whose work may take him nine time zones away be an effective mayor?
• Are you seriously surprised that the surprise resignation of an influential politician, followed by an equally surprising announcement about working in Africa, deserved a story in the local newspaper?
Whether Witherspoon spends more time in Tanzania or Mississippi, best of luck in the new venture. But heads up: If he answers the questions online, we’ll do a story on that, too.
