The Mississippi Sons of Confederate Veterans have rekindled a lawsuit against Ole Miss over a plaque placed on the Confederate memorial statue on campus this week.
The original lawsuit was filed in Sept. 2014, but two days after a revised version of the plaque was placed on the monument, the suit moved to circuit court.
“We’re confident in our position that the university has not done anything improper or that violates,” University lawyer Lee Tyner said.
Tyner has served as chief legal officer for Ole Miss since 2003.
“We ultimately believe the lawsuit will be resolved in our favor,” Tyner said.
When the original plaque language was released, many groups on and off campus were dissatisfied including the Confederate group, Ole Miss English faculty, Ole Miss history faculty, Ole Miss history graduate students and the Ole Miss chapter of the NAACP, as well as others.
“I find it remarkable that a group that claims to be dedicated to preserving the legacy of those who fought to establish the Confederacy would find issue with the plaque as it currently stands,” Ole Miss History Professor Anne Twitty said.
Twitty currently serves on the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on History and Context with three other history professors and other committee members.
“If the Sons of Confederate Veterans are really as ‘proud’ of the Confederate legacy as they claim to be, they should warmly embrace efforts to spread the truth about what the Confederacy was all about. But if, on the other hand, the statements of Confederates themselves make members of the SCV squeamish, then perhaps they should reevaluate the goals and purpose of their organization.”
Twitty said she would encourage all Mississippians to read Confederates’ own statements about why the South seceded from the Union.
“They were not ashamed of their willingness to tear the nation in two in order protect the right to continue holding other human beings in bondage,” Twitty said. “They didn’t pull any punches about their motivations. Neither should we.”
The Confederate group’s local chapter, the University Greys, President Larry Mardis said he has not been involved in the state division’s efforts to sue Ole Miss.
Madris said he has not read the new plaque language, but said because there are so many structures on campus that have ties to Civil War history, he wonders if it would be exhausting to have a contextual plaque on every single one.
Mardis said the history of Ole Miss will remain for people to interpret for themselves for generations to come.
“You can’t change history,” Mardis said.
