I am an Ole Miss alumni. I graduated in 2010. Let me speak if I may on what has occured. Well... before I do that, let me explain some about myself. I was born in California, my parents are Ole Miss alumni. My father grew up in FL, and my mother grew up in Vicksburg MS. My mother raised me to never be racist, never heard the N word or anything like that, she had seen enough of it growing up in MS when she was a child. Now, I had never lived in the South prior to my attending Ole Miss. I thought I had it all figured out, I knew it all man... people out west and up north were smart, people down in the south were dumb. Or so I believed. Now, I really didn't want to attend Ole Miss.... I laughed at my parents and suggested that, they didn't notice racism etc, because they grew up around it. I thought everyone at Ole Miss was going to be a redneck, hick, bigot, would own at least 3 tractors, and would be hard to understand due to their lack of knowledge of the English language. Now... you may ask where did I learn these thoughts? Why did I think the South and in particular Mississippi would be like that? I believe because that's the image or belief that history books, and society would have you believe.
Now I attended Ole Miss from 2006 to 2010. It really opened my eyes. I met some of the MOST wonderful people down there, kind, loving, intellectual, open minded... I was amazed... and I also felt shame. Because I had been so far off in my belief about the South. In fact Ole Miss has 20% African Americans. It is a small school only 20,000 students. I did meet some people down there, that were close minded, racist, homophobic... but you know what? I met more of those people when I lived in CA. I realized... there are racist and close minded people all over the country... who would have thought? I thought they all were down in the south... whoops.
To set the record straight, these were not riots. In is actually quite shameful that the media portrayed them as such. If you don't know what you're talking about... it's best to do your research before you write a story... or so they try and teach you in college. Unfortunately a large portion of the media, including local media in Oxford (MS). Took the news and ran with it without giving it a second thought.
From what I have gathered from many of my friends that are still attending the University, it started with around twenty or so students, drunk, mostly males that were shouting horribly offensive racial slurs. People on twitter and facebook started to say things like "Hey outside the the dorm theres people yelling and chanting." So naturally curious 20 something year olds with not much to do in Oxford except drink, go out and investigate, who knows you might meet a girl, theres plenty to pick from. And within an hour or so around 200 people had gathered (out of 20,000 students). Most people were laughing poking fun at the drunks, one guy had a Obama sign that he light on fire with his lighter... police showed up 5 minutes later, arrested one person for being drunk and disorderly, and one person for fighting with one of the cops. The group dispersed, went back to studying or celebrating the election. Media tries to make it out like it was a RIOT, they need to first understand what the term RIOT entails.... it did not fit the scene that's for sure. A day later over 700 students gather together both white and black and hold a candle light ceremony to show that those twenty or so idiots, did not represent the fine University of Mississippi. But of course... that doesn't get reported by nearly as much news outlets... cause it's boring.
Look, I went to Ole Miss, I lived it, I loved it. I wouldn't have traded my time there for anything else in the world. One of the most beautiful campuses, some of the nicest people. Made wonderful lifelong friends both black and white, who love the school even more than I do. People who have never been there, don't understand anything about the University, they have a lack of critical thinking skills, and honestly it's quite pathetic. This is sensationalism at its finest.
Most of the students in 2008 voted for Barack Obama, he won in a student vote. The 3rd presidential debate was held at the University of Mississippi when he faced off against Mccain. I was there, so were thousands of others. No riots, just young kids involved in politics. We cherished that moment, and always will.
Bottom line, twenty drunk idiots apparently equals a riot, out of 20,000 students. Of the 200+ there, most were bystanders trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Police dispersed everything in a matter of hours. Two people arrested for being drunk. Not even newsworthy in my opinion.
The University only gets bad press. We have moved so far forward and progressed so much from 1962 when James Meredith was allowed into the University of Mississippi. Mississippi is a scapegoat for the whole United States. People love to think that racism is really only existent in the South. Educate yourselves, please.
