‘Take it down’: Students prepare for rally on Friday

The University’s chapter of the NAACP will be hosting a rally in an effort to remove the state flag from campus in the Circle at 12:30 p.m. on Friday.
UM NAACP has made it their primary focus to revisit social injustice issues and promote conversations as to why things have not changed in recent years, like the flying of the Confederate flag.
Buka Okoye, UM NAACP president, believes the removal of Confederate symbols from campus is imperative because of their offensive nature.
“When people think of Ole Miss I don’t want them to think, ‘oh that’s a racist school,’” Okoye said. “Therefore, what are we doing to rid ourselves of that image?”
The NAACP’s main goal is to increase diversity on campus. Okoye said he believes the chapter has acted more moderate than radical.
“Through conversation I’m able to understand things and get a new perspective, but there are some people who are entrenched in their thoughts and beliefs and believe it’s either my way or the highway,” Okoye said. “That type of ideology is radical.”
The flag debate has been continuing among organizations, faculty and students. The debate has now taken form as a resolution in the Associated Student Body Senate to remove the flag. There are 49 Senators in ASB, which means 25 of those members must vote yes to request that the flag be removed.
The NAACP says their intent of hosting the rally is to apply pressure to the senators, so they are forced to make a decision over the matter.
ASB senator and College Democrats president Allen Coon drafted the resolution.
“A lot of people argue that [the flag] represents our history, but I guarantee you this university will never forget its history.”
Coon said he understands the history associated with the symbol of the Confederate flag and its importance but the time has come for a change.
“History belongs in history books,” Coon said.
UM demographics have changed to be more diverse within the last 50 years, bringing more ethnicities, races and backgrounds into the community.
Douglass Sullivan-González, dean of the Honors College, said it’s now no longer a question of whether the flag will be taken down or not, but when.
“The question of who we are and who we shall become is the essence of what it means to be a citizen,” Sullivan-González said. “On this campus you are a citizen and a scholar. The evidence is pretty clear to me that the symbol doesn’t unify. If it doesn’t unify we need to take the next step.”
Friday’s rally is open to the public and the NAACP encourages people on both sides of the debate to attend.