Hope Owens-Wilson writes on a board during a meeting to discuss the sullying of the James Meredith statue at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014.
(Photo/Thomas Graning)
Students, faculty and concerned Oxford community members met Wednesday night in Barnard Observatory to discuss the vandalism of the James Meredith statue that occurred this past weekend.
Senior African-American studies major Hope Owens-Wilson organized the meeting that began with all in attendance taking time to write down thoughts, feelings and reflections.
Attendees were encouraged to express potential solutions, including proposals such as requiring six hours of African-American studies for all students, installing more video cameras on campus and making diversity training mandatory for the Associated Student Body.
Jeremy Holliday, former ASB senator and current treasurer of the College Republicans at Ole Miss, said that the situation must be dealt with head on.
“We have to handle this as individuals and try to make sure situations like this do not happen again,” Holliday said. “When you hear someone use the ‘n-word,’ make sure they know it’s not acceptable, so that way they will understand it is not okay to put a noose around the very statue that represents diversity at The University of Mississippi.”
The meeting was organized by Owens-Wilson through her Facebook and her part-time job at the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation.
Owens-Wilson had planned the first meeting for her student group One Mississippi on Wednesday night, but postponed it in light of the statue incident.
Ruth Ball, president of the Oxford-Lafayette County branch of the NAACP, shared her thoughts with those in attendance.
“It’s a sad commentary on a small group of students that has not evolved to a consciousness that all men are created equal and that everyone is the same in the sight of God,” Ball said.
Owens-Wilson proposed that everyone in the meeting formulate a “next step” in the process of racism eradication. The students and faculty came up with the idea of an open-air forum accessible to students of all kinds to freely discuss their opinions, thoughts, and ideas concerning racism at The University of Mississippi. While a date has not been set, it was made clear that the forum will happen soon as a preventative to future racist incidents.
