Soledad O’Brien, right, speaks with Dr. Barbara Combs, Rev. C.J, Rhodes and Tim Abram during a panel discussion Monday. Photo: Ignacio Murillo, The Daily Mississippian.
Following last week’s desecration of the James Meredith statue on campus, the dialogue about race at Ole Miss continued Monday night during a keynote speech and panel discussion featuring award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien.
O’Brien, who was scheduled to attend before the incident occurred, visited campus as part of her “Black in America” five-city tour, which ended at the Ford Center last night. She delivered a keynote speech about the importance of discussing being black in America today. Three panelists then joined her on stage for a town hall meeting: Ole Miss student Tim Abram, sociology and Southern studies professor Barbara Combs and Ole Miss alumnus and current pastor C.J. Rhodes.
O’Brien addressed last week’s incident in her first statement during the keynote, and panelists spoke at length about the importance of continuing dialogue about racial issues on campus.
“Given the recent events on campus, this was a necessary conversation to have,” Rhodes said after the event. “I could sense from the questions that were asked tonight that there is a lot of conversation to be had. Similar conversations are so necessary moving forward.”
In her introduction, O’Brien admitted that the incident made for “tough timing.” However, throughout her speech and the panel discussion, participants generally agreed that recent events made the discussion even more vital.
O’Brien’s talking points included racial issues ranging from median income to unemployment to infant mortality. She discussed multiple current events that impacted the country’s racial landscape, including Seahawk defensive back Richard Sherman’s postgame outburst and the Super Bowl Coca-Cola commercial, which created social media firestorms that were sometimes racially charged.
O’Brien has had a long career in journalism, working for multiple major broadcast news outlets. She anchored a CNN documentary series called “Black in America,” the first installment of which aired in 2008. Six years later, she continues the franchise which inspired the “Black in America” tour. In 2013, Soledad left her exclusive position with CNN to start her own media company, Starfish Media Group, and is producing documentaries for a number of partners, including HBO, Al Jazeera America, CNN and National Geographic.
Several people, including Ole Miss students, faculty and Oxford residents asked the panel questions during the town hall segment.
Kaitlyn Barton, a public policy leadership major from Brandon, asked the panel how a culture change can begin. Abram answered that it was up to us as individuals to take small steps in changing “the conversations we have behind closed doors with friends and family.”
Ole Miss alumna Krista Wright Thayer asked the panel members what they thought about self-segregation concerning higher education and historically black colleges and universities.
All the discussion participants agreed that historically black colleges and universities were positive in “nurturing black students for the courage to succeed,” as Dr. Combs stated.
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Don Cole, who closed the event with a challenge to the Ole Miss family to continue similar conversations, said he thought the event went extremely well.
“It offered the type of dialogue that we need right now,” Cole said. “It also alluded to the fact that these issues are complex, not simplistic. We cannot stop the dialogue because this particular program is over.”
For 68-year-old Oxford resident Robert Allen, the discussion was informative and encouraging.
“I was very satisfied with the discussions that were had tonight,” he said. “I want to commend the university for hosting this event during this tough week. I thought it went very well.”
— Jessi Ballard
jaballard@go.olemiss.edu
