Frat Boys at Ole Miss Suspected of Putting Noose on Statue in Nasty Display of Racism
by Sky Palma
This
Friday, a University of Mississippi (also known as “Ole Miss”)
fraternity has been suspended indefinitely and three students expelled
after a noose was found hanging on a statue of civil rights icon James
Meredith.
According
to police, three freshmen from Georgia hung the noose around the statue
and plastered a confederate flag-containing emblem on the statue’s
face. Criminal charges could possibly be filed against the former
students, along with the incident being labeled as a hate crime.
But
although the University tried to characterize the incident as isolated,
Ole Miss has a troubling past of racial problems that seem to be deeply
embedded in the area’s culture.
ThinkProgress reports:
[box
type="shadow"]Just a day after the noose was discovered, a black Ole
Miss student reported that a truck full of students threw alcohol on her
and called her racist names while she was walking to her car. Ole Miss
was also thrust in the spotlight after the 2012 election, when hundreds
of Ole Miss students rioted, screaming racial epithets about President
Obama and black people in general.[/box]
"It
is embarrassing that these men had previously identified with our
fraternity," said Brian C. Warren Jr., CEO of the fraternity the
freshmen belonged to. "[Sigma Phi Epsilon] as a national fraternity has
championed racial equality and issues on diversity since 1959 when it
became the first national fraternity to invite members of all races,
creeds and religions to join its membership."
Watch a CNN report on the story below:
No comments:
Post a Comment