Jackson Free Press

With Colonel Reb officially voted down as the school's mascot in February, the University of Mississippi is gathering votes on 11 alternate choices through Monday, July 5. The options, just about all of them preceded by "Rebel" and narrowed down from a list of more than 1,000 submitted ideas are: a duo named Hotty and Toddy, a black bear, blues musician, cardinal, fanatic, horse, land shark, lion, mojo, riverboat pilot and titan.

Just about anyone affiliated with Ole Miss can vote, including students (even incoming and transfers), faculty or staff, alumni and those affiliated with the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Voting can be completed online.

Previous Comments

ID

158404

Comment

GO land shark!

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2010-06-29T09:37:37-06:00

ID

158405

Comment

Is this a land shark? http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG30.jpg

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2010-06-29T10:54:47-06:00

ID

158407

Comment

What happened to Admiral Akbar?

Author

DrumminD21311

Date

2010-06-29T11:37:32-06:00

ID

158408

Comment

Make it an oil skimmer.

Author

DrumminD21311

Date

2010-06-29T11:38:22-06:00

ID

158409

Comment

In reality, the costume of the mascot on Saturdays is a moot point. There needs to be a change in the offical school mascot- "Rebels". It is reprehensible and does not put Mississippi in the most politically accepting light when its flagship University champions a cause that , by today's standards, would be the basis for terrorism. The "Lost Cause" of the Confederacy is treasonous, morally bankrupt, and socially diplorable. Any attempt to salvage some honorable meaning behind it is disingenuous at best, and devilishy racist at worst.

Author

Renaldo Bryant

Date

2010-06-29T12:39:34-06:00

ID

158410

Comment

Shouldn't the headline be "Another Round for Fake Ole Miss mascot"? Colonel Reb will always be the real mascot.

Author

BubbaT

Date

2010-06-29T13:09:24-06:00

ID

158412

Comment

Blackwatch, by that theory should we also do away with Vicksburg's National Military Park? Oooh, how about tearing down the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetary? We could use it for a parking garage, as space is limited in the DC area. If we hurry, I bet we can burn down Beauvoir before anyone can get there to protect it.

Author

RobbieR

Date

2010-06-29T13:18:54-06:00

ID

158415

Comment

Robbie R., I never said that the Confederacy shouldn't be documented and studied. Memorial parks, War memorials, museums, etc. serve a great purpose in preserving history, and by all means should be available and supported by any citizen so interested. But a mascot isn't about documenting and studying history. It is about highlighting certain character traits or noble ideas, and celebrating them by having them as representative of an institution. So you tell me, what noble ideas or character traits of the Confederate cause should be representative of the publically supported University of Mississippi that is wholly representative of all the people of the state of Mississippi? If you want to talk about subjective notions of "chivlary", "loyalty" and "valor", keep in mind that the Civil War wasn't fought to preserve southern aristocatic chivlary and "valor", but to preserve a way of life prediacted on slavery (check the articles of secession of the State of MS in 1861).

Author

Renaldo Bryant

Date

2010-06-29T14:02:25-06:00

ID

158419

Comment

The Military Park at Vicksburg is fine: The The Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetary is fine: You can take Colonel Reb and the Confederate Flag and place him/it in either of these historical places. This would be more fitting and acceptable. Mississippians should not have to live as if the war were still being fought and regreters of how the war ended should not be able to carry on as if they WON. It is over. The South lost the WAR! The South lost the Confederate Flag! There is no more slavery or a people who is willing to be enslaved. So on that note, how about putting up all of the paraphernalia of slavery and the old South. Allow its presence to be that of one's choosing; not one's inability to avoid it. Many of the students are NOT daughters and sons of this obsessive madness.

Author

justjess

Date

2010-06-29T14:17:04-06:00

ID

158422

Comment

Jess I completely agree re: specific imagery such as the flag and Col. Reb. The term Rebels though, I find as just a word though. Did you know the LSU Fighting Tigers were named after the state of Louisiana's Confederate regiment? Should they have to change as well?? In the above message I was simply using hyperbole to make a point. Though I don't think putting up all of the paraphernalia is the right choice. People need to be taught about the Civil War, and see first hand the destruction and horror that it caused our great nation as well as the consequences of it. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - Reason in Common Sense, G. Santayana

Author

RobbieR

Date

2010-06-29T14:30:47-06:00

ID

158423

Comment

Robbie R., I don't see any of the lessons of the Civil War being taught by celebrating the confederate cause, which is what the "simple word" rebel does when it is used to reference a mascot from a Southern university. The people who support the "rebel" aren't doing so to recall the "the destruction and horror" of the Civil War. They shout "And the south shall rise again!!!" at the end of the fight song. This isn't about studying and remebering history, this is about pining after and celebrating white supremacy, plain and simple. It is not about remembering atrocities and sacrifices, it is about validating a treasonous and treacherous cause. I wonder if we would be having the same conversation if Germans were supporting naming the University of Stuttgard's mascot the "Third Riech" or something. Amazing how we are selective in our celebrations and commemorations.

Author

Renaldo Bryant

Date

2010-06-29T14:53:06-06:00

ID

158424

Comment

You didn't answer my question about the LSU Fighting Tigers. I'm a Bulldog, so I don't have a dog in the hunt. I'm just saying you can look at just about anything in this world and find something wrong or offensive with it. I think Ole Miss is doing everything in their power to change the image of their university. Maybe they can change the connotation of their nickname as well in your eyes.

Author

RobbieR

Date

2010-06-29T15:12:17-06:00

ID

158425

Comment

Robbie R., If the fans at LSU celebrate the confederate cause by supporting the "fighting tigers" then the citizens of the state of Louisiana should be outraged by the mascot. To try to equate protestations over a public university celebrating the confederate cause with finding something offensive with "just about anything in this world" is the type of flipancy that drives the state of race relations in this state. If this is such a non-issue or a "nit" as Haley Barbour put it, then why not change the mascot? Why not end all of the confederate holiday commemorations? Since this really means so little, we should have no problem ending these things. But, these commemorations persist because it is a bigger issue, and too often white citizens who support the "rebel" cause realize (though will not admit) that this issue is about white supremacy and a way of life built of the subjugation of a whole race of people. Your quote is right Robbie R., but allow me poetic license: if we do not confront our past and learn lessons of true democracy and freedom, we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes that cost our whole nation too much in lives, freedoms, and dignity.

Author

Renaldo Bryant

Date

2010-06-29T15:37:57-06:00

ID

158426

Comment

@Robbie Yes, they should. I don't think the black student population at Ole Miss or LSU feels too comfortable reveling in the glory of the Confederacy. In fact, let's take all of us white folks out of the debate. Ask them how they feel about it. If at least 80% of them are cool with it, keep the mascots. If not, they gotta go. Deal?

Author

DrumminD21311

Date

2010-06-29T16:04:59-06:00

ID

158429

Comment

Drummi- I got a better idea. Let the whole student body and alumni vote on whether to keep Col Reb and see what the outcome is. But no they knew the majority would have voted to keep him so they wussed out and didn't give people a choice. I swear, they gonna keep on and I'm gonna have become (God forgive me,for saying this) a Southern Miss or Bama fan.

Author

BubbaT

Date

2010-06-29T16:25:03-06:00

ID

158431

Comment

@Bubba It doesn't MATTER how white people feel about it. They are not the injured party here. It does not matter what a MAJORITY of white people think about this issue. They are not the ones who were beaten, raped, had the freedoms taken from, had their freedoms given back them allegedly but still restricted for another hundred years, and while finally obtaining semi-equality under the law occasionally having to put up with racist douches that rant on websites like this, or more appropriately, the Clarion-Ledger. I mean couldn't the students and alumni of Ole Miss just man (or woman) up, and say "Yeah, it is racist. What our ancestors did was wrong and undeserved. Take this mascot change as an olive branch of peace and hope for better future relations so that the glory of America, one nation, under God, may be restored." But nope, you hillbillies would still rather wave your 150 year old soundly defeated battle flags, reminisce about the good ole days of segregation, and chant "The South will rise again," which is code for "The South will one day string you n-words up again for daring to look at white women."

Author

DrumminD21311

Date

2010-06-29T16:35:37-06:00

ID

158433

Comment

Drummin- the lame old "blacks was po' slaves" don't mean crap to me, don't care, I had nothing to do with it. As long as whites make up 85% of the students and alumni how they feel about the issue matters the most. Remember the majority rules or should have in this case but like I said the Ole Miss admin wussed out. And I'm not a hillbilly, I'm a flatlander, born and raised in the Delta,the best part of the State. :)

Author

BubbaT

Date

2010-06-29T19:25:14-06:00

ID

158435

Comment

But you do have something to do with it. You continue the legacy by supporting Colonel Reb and his flag. Again, it DOESN'T MATTER if you care or not, all that matters is if they do. Your opinion doesn't mean SHIT. Also: "As long as whites make up 85% of the students and alumni how they feel about the issue matters the most." Can we frame that and put that in the quote hall of fame? I don't even think I need to comment on that one. Did you sleep through the civil rights movement?

Author

DrumminD21311

Date

2010-06-29T21:47:54-06:00

ID

158436

Comment

Drummin- "It doesn't MATTER how white people feel about it." put yours in the quote hall of fame too, don't want you to miss out.

Author

BubbaT

Date

2010-06-29T23:42:44-06:00

ID

158438

Comment

I also grew up in the Delta and my skin is mostly white, at least I was raised white. My family told me we didn't treat "colored" people bad and I should respect them. But that didn't keep racism out of our family or our hearts. It took facing it in ourselves and testing it against the Judgement Day to do that. There are too many people in Mississippi today who don't want to face the racism in their hearts and get rid of it!

Author

deltabelle

Date

2010-06-30T08:17:42-06:00

ID

158442

Comment

I am pretty sure Bubba is a sleeper agent. He's like those FBI agents who get folks riled up at Klan meetings. He performs a great service by presenting the worst case possible for maintaining the old mascot. Sneaky devil.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2010-06-30T13:20:19-06:00

ID

158443

Comment

FBI? I think you are giving Bubba way, WAY too much credit. I want to be a tea party patriot sleeper agent. How do I sign up?

Author

DrumminD21311

Date

2010-06-30T14:16:52-06:00

ID

158448

Comment

Brian-Why would the FBI want me for a sleeper agent?, I only know a couple of FBI agents and they are Ole Miss grads and agree with me. :)

Author

BubbaT

Date

2010-06-30T21:56:02-06:00

ID

158458

Comment

If you do any research at all you can see that almost all Southern, and some Midwest and Western mascosts have a racially charged element to their history, largely because a number were adopted during the segregated history of higher education in this country. Virginia Cavaliers, Vanderbilt Commodores. What about all the schools that have used native tribes as mascots? Racially insensitive and romanticizing a bloody and violent history. Colonel Reb is a fine scapegoat to the root issue. At least it reminds the rest of America that we actually do have universities in Mississippi!

Author

write2richie

Date

2010-07-01T10:11:50-06:00

ID

158463

Comment

@write "At least it reminds the rest of America that we actually do have universities in Mississippi!" Yeah, and it reminds them that they are racist and not to send their children there. "Harvard of the South." If Harvard were racist and a third-tier school and pretended that it was still 1854. I see Donna chose not to post my retort. I see how it is. That only supports my argument. "Colonel Reb is a fine scapegoat to the root issue." The root issue being that Ole Miss is racist? I would replace "scapegoat to" with "example of."

Author

DrumminD21311

Date

2010-07-01T12:54:20-06:00

ID

158475

Comment

Write2richie - Did the research you must not have done. Vanderbilt Commodores are named after "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, Union supporter during the Civl War he donated a million dollars to start the university, his goaled was to promote the healing of the wounds caused by the Civil War. Virginia Cavaliers- are named after the royal supporters of the England in Virginia during colonial period before the American Revolution. Universities of Ark,Fla,Ga,Ala,Ky,S.Carolina,S.Miss,and Miss State all their mascots are animals. LSU may or maynot be named after a Conderate army unit, the university has never offically said. If you find a racially charged elements with these, please point them out. Lets look at some Midwest and Western school. Texas-Longhorns?,Texas A&M- Aggies?, Okl. Sooners? Nebraska- Cornhuskers? USC Tojans? Wash.State- Cougars?, Az State Sundevils? Wash- Huskies? Can animals be racially offended? Fla.State Seminoles- named that with the appproval of the Seminole nation. Miss College- Choctaws I think the Choctaw nation was ok with that too. I'm just not seeing your majority of schools that have racially charged mascots.

Author

BubbaT

Date

2010-07-01T15:51:54-06:00

ID

158489

Comment

"Fla.State Seminoles- named that with the appproval of the Seminole nation. Miss College- Choctaws I think the Choctaw nation was ok with that too." I believe the NCAA forced member institutions with Native American tribe names to obtain permission from said tribes to continue using them. If the tribes had dissented, they would have been forced to change their mascot names or leave the NCAA. I suppose Ole Miss is feeling similar pressure.

Author

DrumminD21311

Date

2010-07-01T20:52:59-06:00