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10-31-365: Halloween/Horror Lifestyle - By Tom G

Riot at the Ole Miss
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Last Friday, the University of Mississippi became the host of the very first presidential candidate debate where one of the candidates was a non-Caucasian. The university had also once been the scene of one of the most violent riots during desegregation in the 1960s. The debate came very close to the anniversary of the riots, which started 46 years ago today and stretched into the next day. The University of Mississippi was nicknamed the "Ole Miss" in the 1930s as part of a contest to name the school. The name isn't a reference to the state of Mississippi. It's the term that slaves used to call the plantation owner's wife. During the civil war, a very large portion of the university's students left school to fight for the Confederacy. The sports teams for the school are called the "Ole Miss Rebels" and their mascot used to be a Confederate soldier. In the early 1960s, it was a tough sell to get the university to desegregate its student body. In 1961, foreman US Airman James Meredith applied to attend classes at the school. He was rejected because of his ethnicity. He was an African-American. Meredith sued the school and after more than a year of court battles and politics, he was finally told he'd be able to enroll for classes if he went to the university on October 1, 1962. Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett had become heavily involved in the proceedings. A staunch and very public supporter of segregation, he had been made registrar of the school in an attempt to block Meredith. Eventually Barnett wound up cutting a deal with Robert Kennedy so that James Meredith could attend classes. However, two days prior to the agreed date to allow Meredith to register, Barnett gave a speech about Mississippi heritage and tradition to a crowd of Confederate flag-waving fans gathered for an Ole Miss Rebels football game. The next evening, a large group of students began rioting at the school. The rioting then spread as local whites joined in. Property was destroyed, vehicles were stolen, people were assaulted and two men (a local man and a reporter from France) were killed by guns fired at authorities attempting to restore the peace. The rioting went on for 15 hours, continuing into October 1st. James Meredith was finally able to register for classes and eventually graduated from the university. He was still harassed by other students during his time there, and the harassment continued for other black students in the years immediately following. Today 14% of the student population of the university is African-American. Click here if you'd like to read more about the Ole Miss. Find out about the role that the school played in the Civil War and the mass grave near the University's coliseum. -Tom G
Filed under: General, Dark Destinations	September 30, 2008, 4:14 pm | Permalink | 0 Comments
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