Friday was a very eye-opening experience.
I saw students shaking in fear. Students crying. Students screaming. Once Friday’s rally concluded, a group of extremists waved confederate flags in the faces of black students, yelling “white power” and “black lives don’t matter.”
For some time now, black students have explained their fear and the amount of hate imbued in these symbols on our campus. These symbols of hate came to life that day. These people were on our campus.
When I came back to my office to write the news coverage, I began looking at some of the quotes I gathered and the photos that were captured at the counter-protest. Swastikas, tattoos of ‘KKK’ and racial slurs were in the open for all to see and hear.
I was speechless and it was hard to begin. My colleagues were looking at older photos of James Meredith when he enrolled at the University. It looked as if nothing had changed. The only way the photos could be distinguished was one photo was in color and the other was in black and white. One of the scariest moments was online casino when we put some photos in black and white from Friday’s event. Suddenly, 2015 became 1962.
It was terrifying. It was disgusting. And I was embarrassed to be a part of The University of Mississippi.
Despite these feelings, I was proud of my fellow students. They took a stand. Instead of letting these groups of hate destroy our mission of unity, they became that mission of unity. Students both black and white came together to defend each other against this hate, removing the protestors from this campus.
We can start moving this University forward if we take this flag down. ASB, it needs to come down. Be the leaders we elected you to be on this campus. Make the University of Mississippi what it can be. Don’t let other people intimidate you into not making the right decision. Break the stigma that continues to follow the South and the state of Mississippi.
People sitting next to you in class are scared, afraid that racism on this campus is being revived– myself included. But this is not 1962. Make your colleagues feel safe on their campus. Together we can move forward, starting with the removal of this flag.
Members of the Ku Klux Klan were on our campus Friday fighting for the Mississippi state flag to stay. Are you going to be standing on the same side as the Ku Klu Klan or with your fellow students?
