For long time alumni of Ole Miss, their southern experience is changing. The common sight of their beloved mascot is vanishing. Colonel Reb is being fired. In this economy, where more than seven million people have lost theirs, it may be difficult to see any one lose a position, but this one is being cheered -- and rightfully so.
Colonel Reb is a mock up on a Confederate officer. A glorification to a past where States stood in opposition to the freedom of African slaves. During the Civil Rights Movement Ole Miss played a paramount role in the opposition of rights of blacks. James Meredith tried to register for class under the protection of a Supreme Court order at the University of Mississippi in 1962. The college town of Oxford erupted. National troops were ordered in and a week later, Meredith was allowed to attend classes. He was the first African-American to be allowed to enter Ole Miss.
Nearly 50 years later the University of Mississippi has changed, significantly. African-American enrollment has jumped from one to 14% of the class. The University of Mississippi has one of the country's most prominent black studies programs and for the first time the president of the University's Alumni Association is an African-American woman. All of these advances should be cheered -- and rightfully so.
While the dear Colonel has not been the "official" mascot for nearly seven years, he has been almost omnipresent -- on stickers, tee-shirts and even a full bodied cotton big-head walking around campus during games. But the university is now getting firm: banning any merchandise with his image and announcing an election on a new mascot in the coming days.
The decision has of course divided the Ole Miss population -- not mostly on racial lines -- but generational ones. There are those who remember the southern experience they participated in while on the quad more romantically than others. Colonel Reb is an embodiment of those memories. Yet, for others Colonel Reb reminds them of history they'd rather move past. Ole Miss seems committed to revising its southern experience to meet more modern and broader contexual times.
The National Federation of Republican Women could learn a lesson from Ole Miss. Earlier this month the group meeting in Charleston, South Carolina decided they would hold a "Southern Experience" event for its delegates. What sparked controversy was the fact they the group decided it would be a custom party where participants dressed in antebellum gear -- including the two african-americans who were hired to dress in period wardrobe -- that would be as slaves. Nothing like alcohol, confederate costumes and a couple of field hands to liven up a friday night.
South Carolina Republicans seemed oblivious to the insensitivity. The leader of the South Carolina Senate, Glenn McConnell said of the festivities, “Tell me what is offensive about having the differing parts of the culture there? What are we going to try and do in America, sanitize history?” What's the next big event - a reenactment of a lynching since that is unsanitized history, too.
Both of these incidents highlight a cultural blinder that often prevents people from not only listening to another point of view but actually understanding it. One person's Land of Dixie is another's Land of Dispair -- its not a question of being insensitive -- its one of inclusion. We are all Americans and each of our experiences and histories are equally important and should be equally acknowledged. That should not be a Souther Experience, it should be an American one.
Kapitol Hill publishes a new commentary each week.
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