The Only Thing That I Did Wrong I Stayed In Mississippi A Bit Too Long
Here's a lovely story for a Sunday morning. Racism raises it's ugly head again, this time at The University of Mississippi.
The statue you see is of James Meredith. In October 1962, he was the first African-American to attend Ole Miss. It wasn't as easy as that sounds.
The Governor, Ross Barnett did everything he could to avoid integration at the school. Barnett even passed a law specifically aimed at Meredith that would block his admission.
It took a series of phone calls with then U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy to ensure Meredith's enrollment. Kennedy was taking no chance. He called in 500 U.S. Marshalls to take control. His brother, President John F. Kennedy sent in Army troops from Ft. Benning, Georgia to help.
That led to campus rioting with over 200 people injured and 40 soldiers were wounded.
Meredith was allowed to enroll. He graduated in August of 1963 with a degree in Political Science. His story is one of the key moment in the fight for Civil Rights in the United states.
That's the back story for what happened a week ago.
Three University of Mississippi students were caught vandalizing the statue. They put a noose around Meredith's neck and draped an old Georgia flag around the statue. Racial epithets were heard as they were fleeing the scene.
The three students were members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. They were immediately expelled from the frat.
"It's embarrassing that these men previously identified with our fraternity. For this to occur in 2014 is an insult to the legacy of James Meredith, The University of Mississippi community and the SigEp alumni who fought for racial equality in the late 1950's."~ SigEp CEO Brian C. Warren
The fraternity has been suspended by the University.
It would be easy to make all kinds of Animal House references but the story is just too sickening and serious for that. I'm old enough to remember the Meredith story and for this to occur more than 50 years later just makes your skin crawl.
Right now the students are being charged with vandalizing. The federal government is looking into possible hate crime charges. I think that's overkill.
What I would do is give them a year of community service. They should be out polishing the statue every day.