JACKSON, Miss. – All the people outraged about the Mississippi bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” have missed its satirical intent, the sponsor said Thursday.
State Rep. Steve Holland, a Democrat known for over-the-top gestures, said he was tickled that his provocation had rocketed across the Internet.
Holland said the measure was meant to mock other bills that would crack down on illegal immigration. At least six such bills have already been assigned for committee consideration in the state’s current legislative session, and more could be on the way.
“It seems the people of Mississippi have elected a majority group to govern that wants to slam all minorities and especially Hispanic,” Holland said.
Newly elected Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, is a longtime supporter of tougher restrictions on illegal immigration. Such bills had died in a Democratic-controlled Mississippi House in previous years, but Republicans won control of the chamber last November.
Holland’s House Bill 150 manages to avoid even saying the word “Mexico.” It refers to “the body of water located directly south of Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties,” saying it will be renamed as the Gulf of America for “official purposes within the state of Mississippi.”
News of the bill spread across the Internet on Wednesday after it was noticed by the website of the alternative weekly newspaper in New Orleans called the Gambit. Many websites and commenters took the bill at face value, slamming Holland as a stereotypical Mississippi bigot.
Café Con Leche Republicans, a Minnesota-based group that promotes a pro-immigrant and pro-Hispanic stance within the Republican Party, called on Holland to withdraw the bill.
The group suggests renaming the Mississippi River the Lincoln River so it wouldn’t share a name “with a state that wants to rewrite maps out of disdain for Mexicans.”
When reached by The Associated Press, Bob Quasius, president of the group, said that even if the bill was meant as a joke, Holland should still withdraw it and apologize for wasting taxpayers’ money.
