To the "it reflects badly on all of us" crowd

[gravedigger]

I'm calling bullshit. Not your run of the mill bullshit either. It's a manufactured way for a bunch of pussies to avoid responsibility.

Every single time some om player or any student for that matter public ally ****s up, here come the bow tied bitches with "every campus has them" and "I know plenty of bigots at msu" and of course the insinuated advice to not be too publicly critical because after all:

It reflects badly on the whole state.

No it doesn't. It reflects badly on the people who did it. It reflects badly on the people who gave them a platform to do it. It reflects badly on organizations that sell the image of so many things these bigots find attractive but never seem to do make much effort to make these same bigots feel unwelcome.

If someone feels less of my state because of this it's their problem. My conscience is clear. I don't think that way. I'm sure there are people that attend state that do, but I'll leave that to them to defend this crap. Msu doesn't sell the image of the racist south in any manner. Om does. And that is fly paper for the bigots.

Ignorant people from other states don't concern me.
Ignorant people from ms do.

But even so, Ms is a great state that produces great things in spite of bigots, ignorant people from other states and those who do their dead level best to recruit them without the nuts to admit it or the character to change.

Om, never once will your school or its lack of character reflect on this Mississippian.

[Goat Holder]

I have almost decided that my loyalties lie only with MSU, not really the state of MS. Helps you see things more clearly. And MSU is representative if much more than a school.

Great post, by the way.

[messageboardsuperhero]

I'm not sticking up for UM or defending them at all when I say this race stuff reflects badly on all of us- I'm saying this shit makes the state of MS look bad, and that royally pisses me off, because I know UM isn't going to take the proper steps to prevent these situations from happening in the future.

When I say "race issues at UM reflect badly on all of MS," I'm not using that as some kind of excuse or cop out for UM- in fact, I'm trying to hold them accountable because they're making the rest of us look like bigoted racists in the nation's eye. This is a UM screw up that hurts our perception nationally, and that royally pisses me off. They need to take some damn responsibility and make some branding changes to get away from the Confederate bullshit- otherwise, they will continue to attract the kind of morons who pull shit like this. If UM just tried to distance itself from certain aspects of the past, it would really help ALL of us Mississippians.

[bluelightstar]

This absolutely does make Mississippi (the state) look bad. And UM should be held accountable for it.

In the southeast, people can distinguish between Ole Miss and State and so it doesn't matter as much. On the other hand, to the nation at large, I'm not sure they even care to think about Mississippi in a positive way.

[gravedigger]

Then I have advice for you.

1. People who think less of our state as a whole due to the unwillingness of ignorant bigots are just as simple minded as those bigots and deserve none of your concern.

2. Know that there are MANY in the state that say we've moved on but in their hearts have not. These people are both black and white and also raise these idiots.

They don't represent all of us or even most of us. I was raised here, raise my children here and love what is great about ms. What is not great about it is someone else's bourdon to carry. Don't help them carry that sack of bricks by taking on regret for why ignorant people can't differentiate between a haven for bigotry and the good people of this state.

[drunkernhelldawg]

I'm calling bullshit. Not your run of the mill bullshit either. It's a manufactured way for a bunch of pussies to avoid responsibility.

Every single time some om player or any student for that matter public ally ****s up, here come the bow tied bitches with "every campus has them" and "I know plenty of bigots at msu" and of course the insinuated advice to not be too publicly critical because after all:

It reflects badly on the whole state.

No it doesn't. It reflects badly on the people who did it. It reflects badly on the people who gave them a platform to do it. It reflects badly on organizations that sell the image of so many things these bigots find attractive but never seem to do make much effort to make these same bigots feel unwelcome.

If someone feels less of my state because of this it's their problem. My conscience is clear. I don't think that way. I'm sure there are people that attend state that do, but I'll leave that to them to defend this crap. Msu doesn't sell the image of the racist south in any manner. Om does. And that is fly paper for the bigots.

Ignorant people from other states don't concern me.
Ignorant people from ms do.

But even so, Ms is a great state that produces great things in spite of bigots, ignorant people from other states and those who do their dead level best to recruit them without the nuts to admit it or the character to change.

Om, never once will your school or its lack of character reflect on this Mississippian.

I wish this were true, but the fact is that our state spends millions of dollars to enhance its image. If it doesn't matter, then we ought to save that money. But it does matter.

[hells bells]

I'm calling bullshit. Not your run of the mill bullshit either. It's a manufactured way for a bunch of pussies to avoid responsibility.

Every single time some om player or any student for that matter public ally ****s up, here come the bow tied bitches with "every campus has them" and "I know plenty of bigots at msu" and of course the insinuated advice to not be too publicly critical because after all:

It reflects badly on the whole state.

No it doesn't. It reflects badly on the people who did it. It reflects badly on the people who gave them a platform to do it. It reflects badly on organizations that sell the image of so many things these bigots find attractive but never seem to do make much effort to make these same bigots feel unwelcome.

If someone feels less of my state because of this it's their problem. My conscience is clear. I don't think that way. I'm sure there are people that attend state that do, but I'll leave that to them to defend this crap. Msu doesn't sell the image of the racist south in any manner. Om does. And that is fly paper for the bigots.

Ignorant people from other states don't concern me.
Ignorant people from ms do.

But even so, Ms is a great state that produces great things in spite of bigots, ignorant people from other states and those who do their dead level best to recruit them without the nuts to admit it or the character to change.

Om, never once will your school or its lack of character reflect on this Mississippian.

If you recall Trent Lots brother was caught on film dropping the N bomb on our players at the Egg Bowl in Jackson years ago. Supposedly lost his tickets for life. Yea right.

[gravedigger]

It's more of a personal decision to not accept it.

And the national fraternity did the right thing in suspending the chapter. Will they really do something solid to make these ass clowns look for somewhere else to show their ignorance?

Will the university follow their lead?

Nope. All we need is a better image and the dollars to pay for whatever changes it. (Sarcasm)

That is what is bullshit. The good people of ms need to have the courage to continually respond that it's no wonder that bigots migrate to what they find attractive. That is the supporters cross ALONE to bear.

You may be speaking to perception as reality. The only reality is that ignorance abounds among those holding that perception. Greatness is not accepting it.

[M.Fillmore]

Just tell those outside of Mississippi that the Kluckers go to Ole Miss and the real people go to MSU.

[Willn1]

Every state has people who perform racist acts. Some have more. I think most outside of MS recognize that racist acts at institutions of higher learning in MS are occurring disproportionately at UMiss. UMiss is the epicenter of racism for college students in MS. I carry none of the burden for that just as I carry no burden for other states in the South. UMiss gets what it sows.

[Pollodawg]

We need to make every push possible as a university to distinguish ourselves from OM. That has never been more apparent than it has been made here recently.

[Bear@Work]

I'm calling bullshit. Not your run of the mill bullshit either. It's a manufactured way for a bunch of pussies to avoid responsibility.

Every single time some om player or any student for that matter public ally ****s up, here come the bow tied bitches with "every campus has them" and "I know plenty of bigots at msu" and of course the insinuated advice to not be too publicly critical because after all:

It reflects badly on the whole state.

No it doesn't. It reflects badly on the people who did it. It reflects badly on the people who gave them a platform to do it. It reflects badly on organizations that sell the image of so many things these bigots find attractive but never seem to do make much effort to make these same bigots feel unwelcome.

If someone feels less of my state because of this it's their problem. My conscience is clear. I don't think that way. I'm sure there are people that attend state that do, but I'll leave that to them to defend this crap. Msu doesn't sell the image of the racist south in any manner. Om does. And that is fly paper for the bigots.

Ignorant people from other states don't concern me.
Ignorant people from ms do.

But even so, Ms is a great state that produces great things in spite of bigots, ignorant people from other states and those who do their dead level best to recruit them without the nuts to admit it or the character to change.

Om, never once will your school or its lack of character reflect on this Mississippian.



This sort of reasoning is the typical mindset of our fanbase. "To hell with the bears, hail state 4 life!" and we can't see beyond that hatred. In reality, stuff like this makes us guilty by association and everyone outside the MSU fanbase sees this as a negative on us as well. I hate to break everyone's bubble, but it's true. Anyone outside the southeast will read it as "racism in Mississippi" and we are blanketed in that interpretation. Everyone else in the Southeast will likely read it and think along the lines of "That happened at OM, the more liberal/progressive school in the state. All the other schools must be worst than that."

As much as we'd like to think this doesn't affect us and that every one else out there would pin this only on the bears and think nothing negative of us, that's just not true. So for those in our fanbase that cheer for stuff like this and gladly goes to spread the news, share the articles on facebook, create message board posts on other boards, etc, all it does is make us all look bad.

Maybe the best analogy I can come up with is something like this:

Cletus - Brother 1
Jethro - Brother 2
Sally Sue - Sister

Cletus: *yells out at the town square* "Hey, everybody. I caught Jethro and Sally Sue getting it on! And they are brother and sister!!"
Townsfolk: "But, Cletus. They are your brother and sister. You are part of a ****up incestuous family. Get away from us!"

Cletus: MSU
Jethro: OM
Sally Sue: racism

Even though OM is the one having sex with our sister, since the two of us are so closely related and our state in general has the terrible history it does when it comes to having sex with our sisters, we are always going to be looped in together as being a part of that family whether we like it or not. So it does us no good to proclaim the news and laugh at Jethro because everyone outside of us throws us into that same crowd every time.

Please let it die and quit shouting it from the rooftop like it somehow separates our two schools because it doesn't. THe best we can do it use it as a teaching experience for our kids, family and friends and educate them on tolerance so we aren't caught in something like this as well.

[blacklistedbully]

This sort of reasoning is the typical mindset of our fanbase. "To hell with the bears, hail state 4 life!" and we can't see beyond that hatred. In reality, stuff like this makes us guilty by association and everyone outside the MSU fanbase sees this as a negative on us as well. I hate to break everyone's bubble, but it's true. Anyone outside the southeast will read it as "racism in Mississippi" and we are blanketed in that interpretation. Everyone else in the Southeast will likely read it and think along the lines of "That happened at OM, the more liberal/progressive school in the state. All the other schools must be worst than that."

As much as we'd like to think this doesn't affect us and that every one else out there would pin this only on the bears and think nothing negative of us, that's just not true. So for those in our fanbase that cheer for stuff like this and gladly goes to spread the news, share the articles on facebook, create message board posts on other boards, etc, all it does is make us all look bad.

Maybe the best analogy I can come up with is something like this:

Cletus - Brother 1
Jethro - Brother 2
Sally Sue - Sister

Cletus: *yells out at the town square* "Hey, everybody. I caught Jethro and Sally Sue getting it on! And they are brother and sister!!"
Townsfolk: "But, Cletus. They are your brother and sister. You are part of a ****up incestuous family. Get away from us!"

Cletus: MSU
Jethro: OM
Sally Sue: racism

Even though OM is the one having sex with our sister, since the two of us are so closely related and our state in general has the terrible history it does when it comes to having sex with our sisters, we are always going to be looped in together as being a part of that family whether we like it or not. So it does us no good to proclaim the news and laugh at Jethro because everyone outside of us throws us into that same crowd every time.

Please let it die and quit shouting it from the rooftop like it somehow separates our two schools because it doesn't. THe best we can do it use it as a teaching experience for our kids, family and friends and educate them on tolerance so we aren't caught in something like this as well.


I'm calling Bear BS. This analogy is wrong, wrong, wrong for one very simple reason. We are not considered brothers to OM. We are enemies and schools with very different cultures, histories & student bodies.

In 1962 people were literally murdered at their campus in an effort to keep Meredith out. In 1963 out basketball team defied the governor and sneaked out of state to play in the, "Game of Change", an event that damn near every Civil Rights leader has identified as one of the most important events in Civil Rights history. Even more telling than the fact our players did that was the fact that, on their return from the loss to Loyola, they were greeted warmly and enthusiastically by a large # of students as their bus pulled in.

And while Meredith's life was a living hell the entire time he was at Ole Miss, our first black student, Dr. Richard Holmes, who enrolled in 1965 said most of the approximately 7,000 students attending MSU during his two years of study here treated him with respect and courtesy.

Our schools are miles apart and have been since the beginning. I am frankly insulted by the suggestion that we could be considered a "brother" in any analogy.

[Bear@Work]

Again, you're missing it because you have your blinders on. Sure, all of us MSU folk know what you just mentioned and we understand it, but that leaves 300,000,000 more people in the US that have no idea about any of that. They just see racism in Mississippi and we're guilty by association so it does no good to share news like that and beat our chests over it.

[bannedwayne]

It reflects poorly on us.

But then again, any racist incident in the South reflects poorly on us because people from outside of the area just prefer to lump us all together.

[blacklistedbully]

Again, you're missing it because you have your blinders on. Sure, all of us MSU folk know what you just mentioned and we understand it, but that leaves 300,000,000 more people in the US that have no idea about any of that. They just see racism in Mississippi and we're guilty by association so it does no good to share news like that and beat our chests over it.

I'm not missing your point, I'm disagreeing with it wholeheartedly. I think if we do or say nothing, we are far more likely to be lumped in with them. But if we call them out, and make clear the differences between our schools, we're in a win-win situation. It's not about gloating, it's about pointing out the big differences, separating ourselves from them as much as possible nationally and if we benefit beyond distancing ourselves from that BS, so much the better.

By making the distinction we can also show people there are plenty of Mississippians who find the whole thing revolting.

[gravedigger]

You missed the point entirely. My point is that it's a choice to carry the burden around. I choose not to. Om people who say its a serious problem that concerns all of us can cry me a river because besides you and some others most sensible people don't carry it because they don't contribute to it.

Take the steryotype personally if it makes you feel better. Ignorance takes many forms. Bigotry is one. So is stereotyping.

Enjoy that sack of bricks. But know you can put it down anytime.

[blacklistedbully]

You missed the point entirely. My point is that it's a choice to carry the burden around. I choose not to. Om people who say its a serious problem that concerns all of us can cry me a river because besides you and some others most sensible people don't carry it because they don't contribute to it.

Take the steryotype personally if it makes you feel better. Ignorance takes many forms. Bigotry is one. So is stereotyping.

Enjoy that sack of bricks. But know you can put it down anytime.

If you're replying to me, understand I was not referring to your post. I was referring to Bear@Works analogy.