"Ole Miss" is drawing national attention

[PassInterference]

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/inside_higher_ed/2014/08/university_of_mississippi_initiative_to_stop_using _ole_miss_nickname_because.html

The article there discusses Ole Miss's move to drop "Ole Miss". It also blames the Ole Miss Greek system for holding on to old south imagery, tradition, racism, etc.

Sadly, there was this from a Ole Miss student focus group involved int he matter:


"Every black student in the room said that they had been called the ?N-word? at least once on campus"

I hope the Ole Miss Rebels can finally get over themselves and become UMiss.

[RougeDawg]

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/inside_higher_ed/2014/08/university_of_mississippi_initiative_to_stop_using _ole_miss_nickname_because.html

The article there discusses Ole Miss's move to drop "Ole Miss". It also blames the Ole Miss Greek system for holding on to old south imagery, tradition, racism, etc.

Sadly, there was this from a Ole Miss student focus group involved int he matter:



I hope the Ole Miss Rebels can finally get over themselves and become UMiss.

If recent trends continue I can't think of a more appropriate nickname for them, especially around the last weeeknd in Nobember each year.

[MidTNDawg]

I cannot recall how many years now I have called umiss by this name and no other. And note there are no caps.

[AlmostPositive]

"Every black student in the room said that they had been called the ?N-word? at least once on campus"

There are probably plenty of people stupid enough to believe this. They love racism so much they invent it when necessary. Thanks, Democrats.

[starkvegasdawg]

I can't wait until Bucky gets asked if he supports the name change in public. Being a lifelong rebel you know he probably loves the Ole Miss moniker but being a head coach he knows he can't say anything that might possibly hurt his recruiting. There's just so much a duffel bag full of cash and a Z71 can cover for.

[PassInterference]

Here's the money paragraph that sums up the problem with "Ole Miss"


Of the Ole Miss name, they note that some but not all who use the name are aware of its antebellum past (a name slaves would use for the woman married to the plantation owner). And while the report agrees that many students and alumni love the name, it adds that they see the nickname as a symbol that holds the university back. “Building a dialect version of ‘old’ into an institution that is built to prepare for the future strikes them as inherently problematic,” the report says. It also notes that many are reluctant to speak out publicly for fear of offending those who revere the name.

ED readers are well aware that "Ole Miss" came from slave slang for a plantation owner's wife. They can no more change what "Ole Miss" means than a group of rouge Germans can make "Nazis" something kind and gentle.

Couldn't agree more with the end of that paragraph. Calling themselves slang for "old" is problematic. It wreaks of stubborn adherence to problems of the past at the expense of the future.

And to boot, the culture up there is strong enough into this that their own people are are scared to speak out against it. Penn State, anyone? As far as we know, little boys aren't being raped at Ole Miss, but a Penn State-like culture-over-decency is just as strong at Ole Miss.

I read some hope into the next paragraph:


The report adds: “A nickname cannot carry the weight and gravity of the state’s name or convey the seriousness of purpose that an important institution of research, health care, and social mission deserves. In interactions involving grant proposals, job applications, or letters of recommendation in particular, we were told; faculty, staff, and students chafe at having the email address read ‘olemiss.edu.’ They think the University should identify itself as ‘umiss.edu’ in such contexts. This does seem worth considering for official university business and the university might well consider making ‘Mississippi’ or ‘The University of Mississippi’ the default. The nickname could be reserved, as it is for almost all other universities, for athletics and alumni relations.”

It looks that individually, Ole Miss people are ashamed of "Ole Miss". They are fine with yelling "Ole Miss" within the mob mentality at football games and flaunting it behind the anonymity of message boards, but dammit don't tarnish their professional reputations with that stuff!

Maybe the national discussion about "Ole Miss" will give them courage to come out of the closet and put "Ole Miss" behind them.

That would be great news for Our State.

[Johnson85]

ED readers are well aware that "Ole Miss" came from slave slang for a plantation owner's wife. They can no more change what "Ole Miss" means than a group of rouge Germans can make "Nazis" something kind and gentle.


Meanings to change over time though, especially when you are talking about an abbreviation or nick name. There is a host of companies that you would never know what the origins of their name are. Have to see if I can find the list of them, but it's basically a lot of companies like FedEx, except where the abbreviation has lost the connotation of what it was previously abbreviating.

I think Ole Miss is like that. I think it helps everybody for them to drop it, but I think it's kind of stupid. Any race related problems at Ole Miss are not because of the name Ole Miss. They do attract more than their fair share of crazies because of the relation of their traditions to race related issues, but if they dropped all the other stuff Ole Miss would not be a problem.

[Johnson85]

"Every black student in the room said that they had been called the ?N-word? at least once on campus"

I'm guessing this is false or the result of extreme selection bias. Not sure how this group was gathered, but I'm guessing it attracted people that had problems with the University and that any blacks that felt like campus was at least no worse than most other places as far as how it treats black didn't bother to go.

[msstate7]

If the redskins are under assault, then OM will be too soon enough.

[msstate7]

"Every black student in the room said that they had been called the ?N-word? at least once on campus"
.

Doesn't say they were called that by white people. Black people call black people the n word all the time.

[starkvegasdawg]

Doesn't say they were called that by white people. Black people call black people the n word all the time.

I was thinking that but didn't say it. Just let some car pull up blasting a rap song at a red light and in that 30 seconds I bet you hear that word at least 10 times. Provided you can hear the lyrics over the trunk vibrating.

[Dawg61]

umiss black bears

[Bubb Rubb]

I can't wait until Bucky gets asked if he supports the name change in public. Being a lifelong rebel you know he probably loves the Ole Miss moniker but being a head coach he knows he can't say anything that might possibly hurt his recruiting. There's just so much a duffel bag full of cash and a Z71 can cover for.

Bucky hasn't been a lifelong rebel. Don't believe everything he says.

[TrapGame]

umiss black bears

Yep, I give 5 yrs tops and that will be what Mississippi will tell everyone to call them. It's been coming for a while now.

[TrapGame]

Bucky hasn't been a lifelong rebel. Don't believe everything he says.

But, he has been a life long douche bag.