OM student Senate votes down resolution to ban "Dixie"

[Coach34]

and they wonder why I made an Uncle Tom reference

http://thedmonline.com/asb-senate-rejects-resolution-banning-dixie/


"I think its offensive not only to minorities but to other people that are from the South. It was the anthem of the southern Confederacy, it was used in the Jim Crow era, it was used to justify segregation and it was used by segregationists. I just don?t think it sends a good message about our university."

It is played by the Ole Miss Rebels at every game- but it is offensive to minorities. Wonder if there is a term to describe minority players that continue to play for them?

[FlabLoser]

Spot on.

[Coach34]

"For the band to be playing Dixie at university events, the university is basically giving a rubber stamp of approval to the song"

why yes, yes they are

[FlabLoser]

Further reading...

"The Band Played Dixie"
http://www.amazon.com/The-Band-Played-Dixie-Conscience/dp/0684827212

That book is the racial history of Ole Miss. The summary says the book goes to current day and asks why the band still plays Dixie.

[Todd4State]

My favorite part of band was playing the into to Dixie and then the whole band yells "OLE MISS SUCKS"!

[FISHDAWG]

I think it's more about tradition than anything ... I know the correlation of what you're saying but I just don't buy into it ... I'm glad they are fighting back against political correctness ... and that's what I think it is, not a racist kind of thing ... that's my two cents worth ........ ready, set GO ! ..............................

[Coach34]

I see that side of it, however....the 50's and 60's were so full of racial problems. The Segregationists really made the song their theme song. As did the Klan.

Plus, when you know the story behind the song- it's not really the history they are celebrating:

"The song originated in the blackface minstrel shows of the 1850s and quickly grew famous across the United States. Its lyrics, written in a comic, exaggerated version of African American Vernacular English, tell the story of a freed black slave pining for the plantation of his birth."

"In short, "Dixie" made the case, more strongly than any previous minstrel tune had, that slaves belonged in bondage.[13] This was accomplished through the song's protagonist, who, in comic black dialect, implies that despite his freedom, he is homesick for the plantation of his birth"


That's not exactly a history that should be held on to

[Pollodawg]

The song carries connotations with it, meant or unmeant. Keeping the song, even when they may not mean anything bad by it, is keeping alive a symbol of a past better left in history books. It's a slap in the face to Scherwner, Chaney, and Goodman, the children that died in a church bomb in Alabama....


But that's just my opinion.

[FlabLoser]

Perception is reality. The rest of the nation, and most Mississippians, perceive Dixie as racist. Whether Ole Miss's use of Dixie is racist or not is completely irrelevant.

The facts are that nearly everybody outside of Ole Miss's inner circle perceives Dixie as racist, and Ole Miss has been powerless in 40+ years to change that perception.

Given that the world perceives Dixie as racist and that perception is not going to change, who should want their school to be perceived as racist?

[FISHDAWG]

I think if that perception is as strong as you say it is then you would see little to no black athletes or students on their campus ... maybe the rest of the country misinterprets their intent but I believe that native Mississippians (and neighbors) know the difference ... and I HATE relenting to political correctness. I think if you ask any player on their team if they are offended by playing Dixie they would probably so no ..... not necessarily defending the institution as much as I am the situation

[Coach34]

Ole Missus marry "Will the weaver"
Willum was a gay deceiver
Look away! Look away! Look away!
Dixie Land

But when he put his arm around 'er,
He smiled fierce as a forty pounder,
Look away! Look away! Look away!
Dixie Land

His face was sharp as a butcher's cleaver
But that did not seem to grieve 'er
Look away! Look away! Look away!
Dixie Land

Ole Missus acted the foolish part
And died for a man that broke her heart
Look away! Look away! Look away!
Dixie Land

Now here's a health to the next ole Missus
An' all the gals that want to kiss us;
Look away! Look away! Look away!
Dixie Land

But if you want to drive 'way sorrow
Come and hear this song tomorrow
Look away! Look away! Look away!
Dixie Land

There's buckwheat cakes and Injun batter,
Makes you fat or a little fatter
Look away! Look away! Look away!
Dixie Land


Then hoe it down and scratch your gravel,
To Dixie's Land I'm bound to travel,
Look away! Look away! Look away!
Dixie Land

[Coach34]

The remaining verses drift into the common minstrel idiom of a comical plantation scenario, "supposedly [depicting] the gayer side of life for slaves on Southern plantations":[14]

Old Missus marry "Will-de-weaber,"
Willium was a gay deceaber;
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.
But when he put his arm around'er,
He smiled as fierce as a forty-pound'er,
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.
The final verse mixes nonsense and dance steps with the freed-slave scenario:

Dar's buck-wheat cakes an 'Ingen' batter,
Makes you fat or a little fatter;
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.
Den hoe it down an scratch your grabble,
To Dixie land I'm bound to trabble.
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land

[Coach34]

I think if you ask any player on their team if they are offended by playing Dixie they would probably so no ..... not necessarily defending the institution as much as I am the situation

Because many people today dont know the origination of the song. They think it's about white people singing how much they love the South. But it's actually about a slave singing about how much he wants to be back on the plantation.

[FlabLoser]

Mix in some old time religion music (From Dixie With Love, etc) and it makes Dixie feel like it ought to be palatable.

[Ronny]

... a major American university that holds sacred the symbols, musical accompaniment, emblems and artifacts of a conquered army, a conquered army whose sole mission in war was to win the right to maintain human beings as slaves.

You can forgive the past atrocities & beliefs of certain cultures & societies, as long as said cultures & societies evolve enough to finally realize how ridiculous they appeared when they embraced the savage tenets of barbarism.

But the University of Mississippi is an exception: They actually cherish the symbols, musical accompaniment, emblems and artifacts displayed by their pro-slavery army; they regret their pro-slavery army met defeat & therefore cast America into a "downward spiral of historical multiculturalism" as they would put it.

Sorry for the Harvard lecture on the University of Mississippi's Civil War ethos.

But what a grave embarrassment these people are to not only this state, but also to this country.

Yet one more reason I refuse to share a sports messageboard with them.

[gravedigger]

I dont think the song is racist. I think the holding onto the representative images of a time and a place where blacks were held as less than human is, if nothing else, incredibly myopic.

The unwillingness of a vocal portion of those associated with the university to separate themselves from the images is seen as insensitive by many. Basically, the statement is "well I'M not offended with what those symbols represent, so I expect others to get over it".

Like I've said in the past many times, there is a 'romantic' version of the old south that many would like to hold onto without the millstone of the atrocity that goes with it. The two are a package deal.

[FlabLoser]

I dont think the song is racist. I think the holding onto the representative images of a time and a place where blacks were held as less than human is, if nothing else, incredibly myopic.

The unwillingness of a vocal portion of those associated with the university to separate themselves from the images is seen as insensitive by many. Basically, the statement is "well I'M not offended with what those symbols represent, so I expect others to get over it".

Like I've said in the past many times, there is a 'romantic' version of the old south that many would like to hold onto without the millstone of the atrocity that goes with it. The two are a package deal.


http://stream1.gifsoup.com/webroot/animatedgifs4/1446012_o.gif#standing%20ovation%20%20gif

[ghostofjackie]

and they wonder why I made an Uncle Tom reference

http://thedmonline.com/asb-senate-rejects-resolution-banning-dixie/


"I think its offensive not only to minorities but to other people that are from the South. It was the anthem of the southern Confederacy, it was used in the Jim Crow era, it was used to justify segregation and it was used by segregationists. I just don?t think it sends a good message about our university."

It is played by the Ole Miss Rebels at every game- but it is offensive to minorities. Wonder if there is a term to describe minority players that continue to play for them?

Bravo to those douche bags for taking a stand on something other than Cocaine and Cough Syrup. Political correctness is destroying more than Ole Miss, it's destroying our country. But I like to see them fighting from within, it means they can do nothing but fail in the eyes of the rest of the country. And that's right where we want them.