A fight broke out this week in Mississippi between Election Commissioner Sheri McClatchy and a Black woman campaigning for her opposer. The reason for the fight is unknown, but a viral video caught some of the heat on tape.
Video by Megan Long
The Fight
The Election Commissioner of Mississippi, Sheri McClatchy, found herself in a physical fight after starting a yelling match with a woman holding a sign of McClatchy’s opponent, Jamarr “Jack” Walton while the two were doing some last minute campaigning. McClatchy was running for re-election in District 1 in Marshall County.
The fight broke out on election morning at the polling precinct. The fight started out as a verbal altercation but quickly turned into a physical wrestling match.
Racist election commissioner in Mississippi starts a fight & gets her ass whooped pic.twitter.com/eKHaz7CyD5
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) November 5, 2020
The woman she was fighting in the viral video was Pearlie Howell. Howell appeared to have gotten frustrated with McClatchy for escalating the fight and getting in her face. The person recording the video broke up the fight and Sheri McClatchy went to her car.
The women both face assault charges for altertaction. Police Chief Darryl Bowens said the women will be given court citations, although he was unable to give a court date.
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Racist Comments
What made the video go viral though was what happened next. While responding to the person recording, who accused McClatchy of starting the fight, McClatchy caught herself before saying something people have speculated was going to be racist. In the video she is seen saying, “I don’t care, it’s always one way with y’all.” When asked to clarify, “who are y’all,” she responded, “you and anybody else…you and anybody else with a phone.”
One comment under the video says, “she thought real hard before she finished that sentence.”
she thought real hard before she finished that sentence. LOL
— B (@dem4bidenharris) November 5, 2020
Another says, “all y’all with a phone’ is a coded for the N word. She wanted to say but wanted to keep her teeth.”
“All y’all with a phone” is a coded for the N word. She wanted to say but wanted to keep her teeth
— Black Lives Matter KC (@BLM_KC) November 5, 2020
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Other people are commenting on the video saying the McClatchy clearly started the fight and accuse her of being racist.
Sheri McClatchy started it. She touched the Black woman "after" the woman warned her to get out of her face. I swear these racist white people are bold and looking for a fight. It makes no sense. All Sheri had to do was mind her business & respect the personal space of the BW.
— THEE RP4Democrats ???????? (@RP4Democrats) November 5, 2020
Many are confused as to why both women are being charged. They believe only McClatchy should be charged as she started the fight.
Why would they arrest both of them when clearly Sheri McClatchy got in Pearlie’s face?
— ATX CHICANA known as CW (@meesthetics) November 5, 2020
Getting in a physical altercation is never a good look for a public official. This Twitter user comments that Mississippi “deserves better.”
https://twitter.com/ctv556/status/1324372289551519745?s=20
Other Fights
This isn’t Sherri McClatchy’s first time getting into a physical fight in public. There is a news report, video included, of her getting into another fight with a Black woman from June 2019. This fight took place in a public laundromat where McClatchy worked at the time. McClatchy had told a woman not to overload a washing machine and things spiraled into a physical fight. While McClatchy claims that the other woman attacked her, surveillance footage just shows the two hitting each other, unclear who threw the first punch.
Here's Sheri McClatchy in Mississippi starting another fight with a black woman in 2019 pic.twitter.com/LPKsfjew97
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) November 5, 2020
After the election day fight, people are pulling up the 2019 fight video and coming to the conclusion that McClatchy has a history of fighting with Black women.
https://twitter.com/A_napellusQueen/status/1324451354610262016?s=20
McClatchy eventually untangled herself from the woman long enough to step outside, but the other woman followed her out. McClatchy claims that she thought the woman was going to continue being violent with her. That was when McClatchy pulled out a gun and the woman backed off. Police arrived minutes later but the other woman had already left. Neither woman was charged for the incident, although McClatchy told reporters that that woman is no longer welcome at that laundromat. It is alarming that McClatchy’s behavior hasn’t changed since she has become Election Commissioner. The thought of wanting to fight for your people is good, but getting into an actual fist fight is a different story.
As of Wednesday a winner still had yet to be decided for Mississippi Election Commissioner. Walton had a solid lead with 1,117 votes to McClatchy’s 599, but absentee and affidavit ballots were still being counted. There was some concern over McClatchy’s eligibility to still be able to be elected to Election Commissioner since she was being charged. Mississippi Secretary of State, Michael Watson, stated in an email that he was aware of the altercation between the two women and has legal officials looking into it. Obviously, a video like this circulating isn’t great for someone’s reputation, but especially if you are supposed to be in charge of something as important as election duties. It also does not look too good now that this is McClatchy’s second public physical altercation. And not only is it just a physical altercation, but both have been against Black women. What do you think about this situation?
