Thursday, September 23, 2010

Looks like The Ole Miss Mascot is back in the news

I remember a while ago they were asked to change the mascot due to the fact that It represents the Confederacy. at that time they satisfied a load of people by changing the name of the mascot to “The Reb’s”  which was basically short for “Rebels” … the problem now… They forgot to change “Col. Reb” which has been “Live Mascot” so to speak representing the school.

In the article it I read it states that This year they aren’t using Colonel Reb anymore and will be implementing a new mascot soon. but many on the campus feel that the Reb stays. at this point blacks and other groups look at what the Mascot represents.  They say that change is well overdue because. it’s time for the school to change it’s image and mascot all together.

My Personal Opinion is that I feel that the Live mascot should stay, or at least be ceremonially laid to rest…or  because it changes school tradition. and doing so will represent the change.

Ole Miss has a history of racisim and they want that to go away. Changing The Colonel Reb would be the final step. therefore I understand completely. I mentioned to my boy Lamar that Schools like Alcorn State who had a Native American Tribal mascot had to change theirs due to protest by the native American community and it slightly changed the schools tradition.  Although they’re still commonly known as “The Braves”  their mascot cymbal age and name was removed. they’re actually called “The A’s” now from what I remember.  They of course did it out of respect for the Natives.

With that said, Racism is a valid reason to have the mascot changed, because it doesn’t represent the full student body.

admiral-ackbar-ole-miss-bigger.jpgAnother thing is this…  If you choose a school and they accept you, You basically accepted all which that school represents or has represented in the past. I’m not saying that they should overlook the fact that the Mascot represents a horrible time in American history. but you made the choice to be part of a school with which originally represented that image.

Change is great. The Blacks and other groups are all for the change and i can respect that.  The Odd part is that they’re supposed to be changing the mascot to a character from the movie Star Wars. That’s a Comic Relief I’ll tell ya.

I guess at the end of the day. The Confederacy Looses Out once again.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You should probably actually know about something before you right about it. There are so many inaccuracies on this article that it's beyond fixable.

Book said...

hey I'm just giving my Opinion. not trying to be right or wrong..

I do know about the situation. it was back in 2003 when they were asked to change the mascot. That's when they only started Officially calling it a "Reb" rather than a "Rebel" .. we all know that's just a short nickname but it worked.

You have folks who feel that the mascot doesn't represent the whole school

My Opinion is that They chose to go there so they have to deal with what that school represents

You have folks who want to keep the mascot because it's tradition. but its hard to overlook the what the mascot itself represents.

it's the similar to the situations involving schools who have Native American mascots.

That's what this entry is about.

I for one am all for tradition. but if that tradition disrespects a culture I think it should be changed.

That's why i mentioned there should be a formal way of getting rid of the mascot, giving it some "place of Memory" rather than Not acknowledging its existence.

... I know what I'm writing about.