[ckphilli]

So just out of curiosity... read this: http://blog.al.com/press-register-sp...ight_song.html

Now, I'm very proud that change has been instigated...but...umm...what about the mascot?

Seems a little strange to me...

[iltos]

Originally Posted by ckphilli

So just out of curiosity... read this: http://blog.al.com/press-register-sp...ight_song.html

Now, I'm very proud that change has been instigated...but...umm...what about the mascot?

Seems a little strange to me...

hmmm....first thing that popped in my mind was:
"what? is ole miss an all white football team?.....they've got no black players?"
then
"do they stop playing their hearts out when fans start chanting?"

who's making an issue out of this?

[ckphilli]

Originally Posted by iltos

hmmm....first thing that popped in my mind was:
"what? is ole miss an all white football team?.....they've got no black players?"
then
"do they stop playing their hearts out when fans start chanting?"

who's making an issue out of this?

The school is making an issue out of it...and well, it should be...IMO. My issue is that they stop at the chant "the south will rise again". This phrase and "rebel" in Ole' Miss. context are reminders of an ugly past and quite offensive to some, including me.

We're not talking outlawing and limiting freedom of speech...but neither has any business at a public university.

Now, if they change the mascot and keep "rebel" that may be a good compromise.

[iltos]

Originally Posted by ckphilli

The school is making an issue out of it...and well, it should be...IMO. My issue is that they stop at the chant "the south will rise again". This phrase and "rebel" in Ole' Miss. context are reminders of an ugly past and quite offensive to some, including me.

We're not talking outlawing and limiting freedom of speech...but neither has any business at a public university.

Now, if they change the mascot and keep "rebel" that may be a good compromise.

at the risk of turning a perfectly sane thread into a candidate for CD
i'm not gettin it.....yes, it was an ugly past....but if we keep bringing it up and trying to find some balance that both includes it and excludes it, all it means is that we'll never get past it.

if there's some black kids at that school that take issue with the chant, then i'll listen...'til then, my money is on old white administrators worried about "image" and how it effects recruitment and endowments

[ckphilli]

Originally Posted by iltos

at the risk of turning a perfectly sane thread into a candidate for CD
i'm not gettin it.....yes, it was an ugly past....but if we keep bringing it up and trying to find some balance that both includes it and excludes it, all it means is that we'll never get past it.

if there's some black kids at that school that take issue with the chant, then i'll listen...'til then, my money is on old white administrators worried about "image" and how it effects recruitment and endowments

Fair enough my friend, last words from me on this...

It is about the image to me. History has a place and it's in the history books; or the net these days. Constant reminders are just unnecessary and I think that's what the administration is trying to stop. And it isn't always just the black players that have a problem...k, sorry, I'll stop.

[iltos]

maybe they should "rebrand" themselves
call themselves "new miss"

[wacor]

Next thing you know they will remove any reference to the native indians. Oh wait. Eastern Michigan did that a few years ago. Sheesh this PC world is a getting out of hand. If the Washington Redskins keep going down the tubes on par with the Lions it won't take long and there will be a groundswell to rename them.

sorry to hijack but I am with Iltos on this one.

[ckphilli]

Originally Posted by wacor

Next thing you know they will remove any reference to the native indians. Oh wait. Eastern Michigan did that a few years ago. Sheesh this PC world is a getting out of hand. If the Washington Redskins keep going down the tubes on par with the Lions it won't take long and there will be a groundswell to rename them.

sorry to hijack but I am with Iltos on this one.

It's not a "PC" issue Bill and you know that.

[ckphilli]

Originally Posted by iltos

maybe they should "rebrand" themselves
call themselves "new miss"

Can you somehow take the pertinent posts and place them in a CD thread Bob? It was my mistake for posting this here, but I would like to continue the discussion in CD. EDIT: Sorry, got it transferred over

[ckphilli]

Thanks for the move Iltos Hitting the sack for now; hopefully some folks will weigh in. It really is interesting to learn how people read this.

[iltos]

Originally Posted by ckphilli

Thanks for the move Iltos Hitting the sack for now; hopefully some folks will weigh in. It really is interesting to learn how people read this.

my pleasure....this is an interesting topic, and definitely not one for the NCAA thread in random

i hope others can flush out the story a bit more, too.

[thingamajig]

It seems as if there is a story about this every few years. It's not just about being politically correct and it comes from students and the community as well as the administration. "The south will rise again" has every bit the insinuation as someone yelling "Heil Hitler" at a Jewish funeral, "The Nazi's will rise again." The symbols belong in history especially since discrimination is still alive and well.

[ekim68]

I think it's a good thing to put behind them. Time to change, but i thought this interesting in the article....

The move to abolish the chant began in October when the Ole Miss student government association passed a resolution to change the phrase to "to hell with LSU."

[iltos]

Originally Posted by thingamajig

It seems as if there is a story about this every few years. It's not just about being politically correct and it comes from students and the community as well as the administration. "The south will rise again" has every bit the insinuation as someone yelling "Heil Hitler" at a Jewish funeral, "The Nazi's will rise again." The symbols belong in history especially since discrimination is still alive and well.

the complaint has apparently come from donors, alums, and the administration....the asb's vote was a compromise...a "politically correct" response, imo....

according to the author of this editorial

....until the recent attention, there were plenty of fans who didn’t even know that the students were saying anything at the end of the song.

and

Sophomore Cortez Moss, director of communications for the ASB, said the organization is trying to explain to students why the phrase is offensive. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=4586847

it's been 46 years since James Meredith integrated Ole Miss...it's current undergraduate enrollment is 21% black.....read some of the comments at the end of this article and it's clear that -for many- the university's image remains that of pretty backwards place....and yet it's apparent that it's not a bastion of racism, nor that it's traditions point to that image as being true.

this is my point in all of this....that reworking it's traditions from the top down in the attempt to change it's image will only create a polarization that gives pride center stage.

Moss has got the right idea....if history class has failed to teach, then the problem is not in the traditions, but in people's appreciation of each other.

Roun McNeill, a former ASB president who is now in law school at Ole Miss, said his own decision to refrain from the chant was easily made.

"I said the chant one day and there was a black family sitting in front of me and they turned around and gave me this look like I hurt them," McNeill said..http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=4586847

[wacor]

I guess I must be a racist at heart because I still look it as southern pride more than trying to restore their days of slavery. The last thing I would think of is to compare it to heil Hitler.

I do think it is a degree of PC. I can appreciate how to some it might offend but I don't agree with the degree they let it bother them. But hey I must be a racist so tar and feather me.