University of Mississippi Chancellor Dan Jones says he is disappointed in the “immature and uncivil approach” taken by some students following Tuesday night’s election results, which resulted in hours of on-campus protesting that has now become a national news story.
A statement released by the university Wednesday says some students notified university police that people were gathering near the student union to protest President Barack Obama’s reelection.
Officers arrived to find about 30-40 students in front of the union, which quickly grew to more 400 students within 20 minutes.
UPD ordered the group to return to their residence halls, which took about 25 minutes, according to the statement. But another group of about 100 students gathered at another residence hall soon after. Officers made two arrests for disorderly conduct: one for public intoxication and one for failure to comply with police orders.
Jones said social media played a huge role in both prompting the gathering and spreading misinformation about what actually happened.
Initial reports on Twitter labeled the gathering as a “riot,” but many observers say it was simply a small group of angry students assembled in protest. Photos quickly spread on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram of students gathered on campus, including one photo showing a Obama/Biden campaign sign that had been set on fire.
“Unfortunately, early news reports quoted social media comments that were inaccurate,” he said. “Too, some photographs published in social media portrayed events that police did not observe on campus. Nevertheless, the reports of uncivil language and shouted racial epithets appear to be accurate and are universally condemned by the university, student leaders and the vast majority of students who are more representative of our university creed.”
Jones said parents are being notified that “one of America’s safest campuses is safe again this morning, though all of us are ashamed of the few students who have negatively affected the reputations of each of us and of our university.”
According to various media reports, no students were hurt during the protests.
More:
Bigotry and mass displays of white entitlement have long been calling cards of the state of Mississippi, and the ignorant exhibition of racism that caused over 400 White students to riot in protest of the re-election of President Barack Obama is just more of the same.
The modern-day Klan rally began with 20-30 students on the campus of Ole Miss in Oxford, and quickly swelled to over 400 students according to Chancellor Dan Jones. The word went out on social media and, as Black students expressed embarrassment and anxiety, more and more little Grand Wizards in-training showed up to burn Obama/Biden signs and release their frustration that a Black man is once more Commander-in-Chief.
WMCTV.com reports:
Word of the protests snowballed on social networking sites overnight. Photos were posted all over Twitter, and a video was even uploaded to YouTube.
Photos show huge group of people on the campus, some even lighting Obama-Biden signs on fire, in response to the presidential election results.
According to people on the scene, students were heckling one another and racial slurs were even yelled out in the crowd.
Early reports suggested rocks were being thrown at cars, but the chancellor says that part of the story is not true.
“Unfortunately, early news reports quoted social media comments that were inaccurate. Too, some photographs published in social media portrayed events that police did not observe on campus,” said Chancellor Jones in a written statement. “Nevertheless, the reports of uncivil language and shouted racial epithets appear to be accurate and are universally condemned by the university, student leaders and the vast majority of students who are more representative of our university creed.”
The “university creed”?
This is an alleged institution of higher learning which honors “Colonel Reb,” the infamous caricature of a southern plantation owner, as unofficial mascot — even though it lost official status in 2003 after decades of being the most accepted display of vile antebellum culture in collegiate sports.
This is a supposed bastion of refinement and intelligence that still calls itself “Ole Miss,” which is what Black slaves called the wife of the plantation owner.
This relic of the confederacy, by virtue of its very existence, is a breeding ground for bigotry and a magnet for the caliber of White student who would even think to burn a flag in protest of a Black man being president of the United States of America.
At Ole Miss, they’re at home.
Ironically, there was unverified speculation that Black people planned to riot in the streets if Mitt Romney won the presidency. Conservative media outlets disseminated the story until it took on a life of it’s own, giving conservatives an always welcome reason to spew ethnic slurs. But White students actually do riot on the campus of an alleged prestigious university and it’s all of a sudden –wait for it — “protests.”
The saddest part about this entire pathetic incident is that no one is even surprised.
Racism is real and there are White Americans who absolutely hate the idea of a Black president. But they can burn their signs and have their little campus riots, the fact will remain that he’s here — and he’s not going anywhere for 4 more years.
Deal with it.
A statement released by the university Wednesday says some students notified university police that people were gathering near the student union to protest President Barack Obama’s reelection.
Officers arrived to find about 30-40 students in front of the union, which quickly grew to more 400 students within 20 minutes.
UPD ordered the group to return to their residence halls, which took about 25 minutes, according to the statement. But another group of about 100 students gathered at another residence hall soon after. Officers made two arrests for disorderly conduct: one for public intoxication and one for failure to comply with police orders.
Jones said social media played a huge role in both prompting the gathering and spreading misinformation about what actually happened.
Initial reports on Twitter labeled the gathering as a “riot,” but many observers say it was simply a small group of angry students assembled in protest. Photos quickly spread on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram of students gathered on campus, including one photo showing a Obama/Biden campaign sign that had been set on fire.
“Unfortunately, early news reports quoted social media comments that were inaccurate,” he said. “Too, some photographs published in social media portrayed events that police did not observe on campus. Nevertheless, the reports of uncivil language and shouted racial epithets appear to be accurate and are universally condemned by the university, student leaders and the vast majority of students who are more representative of our university creed.”
Jones said parents are being notified that “one of America’s safest campuses is safe again this morning, though all of us are ashamed of the few students who have negatively affected the reputations of each of us and of our university.”
According to various media reports, no students were hurt during the protests.
No Students were hurt yes, but they clearly wanted to hurt somebody!
More:
Bigotry and mass displays of white entitlement have long been calling cards of the state of Mississippi, and the ignorant exhibition of racism that caused over 400 White students to riot in protest of the re-election of President Barack Obama is just more of the same.
The modern-day Klan rally began with 20-30 students on the campus of Ole Miss in Oxford, and quickly swelled to over 400 students according to Chancellor Dan Jones. The word went out on social media and, as Black students expressed embarrassment and anxiety, more and more little Grand Wizards in-training showed up to burn Obama/Biden signs and release their frustration that a Black man is once more Commander-in-Chief.
WMCTV.com reports:
Word of the protests snowballed on social networking sites overnight. Photos were posted all over Twitter, and a video was even uploaded to YouTube.
Photos show huge group of people on the campus, some even lighting Obama-Biden signs on fire, in response to the presidential election results.
According to people on the scene, students were heckling one another and racial slurs were even yelled out in the crowd.
Early reports suggested rocks were being thrown at cars, but the chancellor says that part of the story is not true.
“Unfortunately, early news reports quoted social media comments that were inaccurate. Too, some photographs published in social media portrayed events that police did not observe on campus,” said Chancellor Jones in a written statement. “Nevertheless, the reports of uncivil language and shouted racial epithets appear to be accurate and are universally condemned by the university, student leaders and the vast majority of students who are more representative of our university creed.”
The “university creed”?
This is an alleged institution of higher learning which honors “Colonel Reb,” the infamous caricature of a southern plantation owner, as unofficial mascot — even though it lost official status in 2003 after decades of being the most accepted display of vile antebellum culture in collegiate sports.
This is a supposed bastion of refinement and intelligence that still calls itself “Ole Miss,” which is what Black slaves called the wife of the plantation owner.
This relic of the confederacy, by virtue of its very existence, is a breeding ground for bigotry and a magnet for the caliber of White student who would even think to burn a flag in protest of a Black man being president of the United States of America.
At Ole Miss, they’re at home.
Ironically, there was unverified speculation that Black people planned to riot in the streets if Mitt Romney won the presidency. Conservative media outlets disseminated the story until it took on a life of it’s own, giving conservatives an always welcome reason to spew ethnic slurs. But White students actually do riot on the campus of an alleged prestigious university and it’s all of a sudden –wait for it — “protests.”
The saddest part about this entire pathetic incident is that no one is even surprised.
Racism is real and there are White Americans who absolutely hate the idea of a Black president. But they can burn their signs and have their little campus riots, the fact will remain that he’s here — and he’s not going anywhere for 4 more years.
Deal with it.
No comments:
Post a Comment