OT: Mississippi Governor Declares April "Confederate Heritage Month"

Submitted by FauxMo on

Here is a link to the article: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/02/mississippi_governor_dec….

 

The South had a very rich pre-Civil War history. There is no doubt about that. Much of that culture and tradition had nothing (or little) to do directly with slavery. I concede that too. But the "Runnin' Rebels," a state flag that features the confederate battle flag prominently, and now a whole month that celebrates "Confederate Heritage" and is being promoted by a group called the "Sons of Confederate Veterans" alongside the state of Mississippi itself?

 

So here is my question: Why would a young African-American athlete want to spend their college years in an environment that smacks of at least covert hostility if there were viable alternatives? On top of the whole "Ole Miss has stunk forever and yet mysteriously pulls in 5* top-5 FB classes," this is just something else that adds to my confusion.

FauxMo

February 25th, 2016 at 1:52 PM ^

I usually hate the "everyone pays players but Michigan" meme, but my goodness, what other conclusion can a person have in the case of Ole Miss?

Player X: "Hmmmm, I can either go to a school with a far better football program, a better education, and less racism, or I can take $50K and go to Ole Miss? Ole Miss it is!!!"

Magnus

February 25th, 2016 at 1:56 PM ^

There's some inherent racism that exists everywhere. It's inescapable, not just in football, but in life. So it's a little disingenuous to suggest otherwise.

As I said below, the state of Mississippi is 37% black. Meanwhile, the national population is 13% black. There might be more racism in the deep south, but there's also three times as many fellow black people to combat it and to surround yourself with.

I'm not saying one situation is better than the other. But yours is not a slam-dunk case. 

Magnus

February 25th, 2016 at 2:16 PM ^

The city of Oxford is 21%.

Regardless, I think as Michigan fans, we can sit here and say just about anything as far as "Why wouldn't recruits want to come here?" The facilities are great, we have a very good coach, there's a lot of tradition, it's a great school, big stadium, big alumni base/connections, etc. But lots of schools can say similar things (though not exactly), like Stanford, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Alabama, USC, UCLA, etc.

I'm biased, but Michigan offers 150-250 recruits every year, and I don't see why 50% of those kids don't choose Michigan. (Okay, the math doesn't work out when you can only take ~25 recruits, but still.) It turns out that kids take a lot of other factors into account. And when you're a black athlete going where there are a fair number of other black athletes and citizens in general, you're insulated from it in some ways, anyway.

DairyQueen

February 26th, 2016 at 1:49 AM ^

Which has been cut in half since the mid-90s when the overall student population was ~8 percent black.

But that is a multivariate issue.

If anyone is interested in Michigan History, President Duderstadt (88-96), was an amazing President for Michigan. Theoretical Physicist and Nuclear Engineer by training, worked for NASA, The US Army, the NSF, and worked his way up from a UM Engineering school professor, to Dean, to President, and was incredibly instrumental in pushing UM into the 21st century. Wrote a lot on progressing the sciences, inter-collegiate athletics, and the mission of a modern university.

Really an amazing person. Also played football at Yale (which doesn't say much!).

Magnus

February 25th, 2016 at 2:24 PM ^

"Why go if you're black?"

Because you want to play football/go to school there.

I mean, why do women sometimes like abusive men? Why do men like women who play hard to get? You like who you like, and you want to go to school where you want to go to school. Obviously, these kids weigh the pros/cons of various schools, and they think the trade-off of going to a "more racist" area is worth it. Who are we to say that Player X should pass up his chance to go to Ole Miss just because we think there are better places?

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

February 25th, 2016 at 4:26 PM ^

Because it's possible, despite what we're always told, that race is not the complete end-all and be-all of life and something that trumps literally every other concern in the world.  And because it's possible that race is not (excuse the phrasing) a black and white issue in which something is either Racist or Not Racist.  And because it's possible that someone flying a Confederate flag can be a genuinely good and nice person without a racist bone in their body and that their neighbor without one can be a nasty old asshole who hates everything he comes across.

Race is literally the single most complex issue in this country with literally as many opinions as there are people, so like everything else related to it, it would be completely incorrect to boil Mississippi down to a single yes-or-no answer with no possible exceptions.

gwkrlghl

February 25th, 2016 at 3:58 PM ^

I mean, strength in numbers only takes you so far. Mississippi has been a hotbed of racism for centuries and while that culture has toned way down, you still can sense it's an underlying part of the culture in many circles in MS. The love for the confederacy, the racist protests when Obama was elected, etc.

West Mississippi was the capital of lynchings in the US. A lot of that heritage is still around. So conversely, I feel it's also a little disingenuous to sort of gloss it over with 'racism is everywhere' when Mississippi has sort of been the champion of racism for a long time

LDNfan

February 25th, 2016 at 6:43 PM ^

You know many areas where slavery was prevelant have a high % of blacks are a result of slavery...upwards of 90% in the carribean. But they were and are to a certain degree disenfrancished with only a fraction of the power of the dominant, and sometimes, minority race. I mean how else could a state with such a high proportion of blackshave a governor  think this is a good idea if not for the power imbalance?

Magnus

February 25th, 2016 at 1:50 PM ^

Well, one reason might be all the money they're willing to give recruits.

But also, the state of Mississippi is 37% black. So maybe that's a factor.

MGlobules

February 25th, 2016 at 1:59 PM ^

all a group of players on a single team need to do is delay a game for fifteen minutes while ESPN and its advertisers wait anxiously (let alone sit one out) and the axis of power will have shifted forever between institutions like the NCAA or hostile state guvs and college athletes.

M and M Boys

February 25th, 2016 at 6:27 PM ^

Eddie Gaedel made his promotional appearance for the St. Louis Browns he was violently scorned and called "MIDGET, MIDGET, MIDGET!!!!"....so if Wilt was 7' tall Eddie had to be at least half as pissed as Wilt......

This, of course, all happened before the "We are the World" days..

Eddie died at age 36-- and never visited Mississippi in his entire lifetime..

a different Jason

February 25th, 2016 at 3:32 PM ^

I have lived there for 18 months and visited on other occasions. Its a beautiful state with many great people.

My racist Mississippi story. I was in the hardware store in Okalona, MS in 2012. I was purchasing some small saw blades, about $20 item. As I walked to the counter, both men behind the counter step away from the people they are helping to help me. I sat something like these folks are in front of me. Oh, no, you come up here. I am white, the counter people are white, the other customers are black. I did not know how to respond.

FidelioHorelick

February 25th, 2016 at 8:18 PM ^

The story teller states they had grabbed the items they wished to purchase and then went to the counter to complete the transaction. The story teller gives no details pertaining to the conversation between the people behind the counter and the other people in the store. The story teller does not identify them as being at the counter to complete a transaction. It is left unknown in the story on whether the black people there were at the counter to complete the transaction. Further, it seems that the story teller may not have been aware of what exactly was happening between the 2 other parties. Perhaps they were asking about an item, perhaps just asking advice on something, perhaps just talking shop, perhaps asking for directions, perhaps talking about football, or maybe they were just people that knew the people that worked there.