Ole Miss athletes showed class on Saturday. As a proud Mississippi State graduate and diehard Bulldogs fan, I never thought I’d say that, but credit where credit is due.
When I moved to Mississippi almost seven years ago now, I had a lot of preconceived notions about this state and what the people were like. Only one of those stereotypes has been proven true. I have been called a yankee, mostly for pronouncing “Yazoo” yahh-zoo instead of yaz-hoo, but I have found Mississippi to be a warm, welcoming place full of people who truly care about one another.
There are, however, a select few who seem to have learned from a different history textbook than I did. Prior to moving here, I never dreamed there were people who did not know, or didn’t believe, the Civil War was about slavery. It would’ve taken me ages to guess there were those who didn’t understand the negative connotations associated with the confederate flag and monuments for confederate leaders like Jefferson Davis. I was very surprised when I learned Mississippi still celebrates Robert E. Lee’s birthday, which falls on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Sometimes I wish I still had that naivety. It would have made my Saturday much more pleasant.
If any are not familiar with the events of Saturday, a group of neo-conservatives from Memphis came to the University of Mississippi campus to protest the removal of the state flag, mascot change and the discussion about removing a confederate monument from campus grounds. From news reports, I gather there were about 80-100 protesters and a decent showing of counter-protesters.
No, nothing was broken. No cars were burned, stores ransacked, or paving stones thrown at law enforcement. From all accounts, it seems like a group of like-minded, though severely misguided individuals said their piece and went home. They didn’t even try to take the goal post with them.
While a neo-conservative group protesting is newsworthy on its own, what happened next, at the Ole Miss vs. Georgia game, quickly became the main story. Six Ole Miss student athletes knelt during the national anthem as a form of protest against the group outside, which seems to believe the confederacy was about protecting their way of life from a hostile invasion.
I won’t go into the kneeling issue in this column, though for the record it does not bother me. The issue I saw, watching social media fill the roles of both judge and jury for the athletes’ actions, is there seems to be a lot of confusion about this state’s history.
Let me see if I can clear it up.
The Civil War was fought over slavery. Trying to disguise it with terms like state’s rights or saying the fight was about economic disparities is just flat out not true; confederate heritage is the heritage of the enslavement, mistreatment and death of millions of human beings. It should not be celebrated, ever; and if the guy marching next to you has a swastika tattoo, you should start asking yourself whether you’re on the right side.
Thomas is the managing editor of the Newton County Appeal. He can be reached at thoward@newtoncountyappeal.com
