FOX News anchor Shepard Smith took a stand tonight against most Mississippians of his and older generations when he affirmed the newly adopted University of Mississippi mascot, the Rebel Black Bear. The Black Bear, indigenous to Mississippi, was chosen by a yes-vote of 62 percent of Ole Miss faculty, staff and students.
The Ole Miss alum announced the mascot change on his Studio B program Thursday night and didn't leave up for debate what he thought about the change. He essentially told his viewers, many of whom wanted to save the traditional Colonel Reb, to get over it already--"It not about you. It's about the kids." And he said, "I like it," adding that the cartoon mascot was cute, and black bears are tough. (Tough enough to make mincemeat of elephants Sunday, he added, referring to the game against Alabama's Crimson Tide).
Col. Reb wasn't the first mascot to be fired from Ole Miss. In fact, his tenure started in 1979 after his predecessor, the Confederate flag, was deemed too racist for the relatively newly-integrated university. Col. Reb, an old white Dixiecrat-looking fellow, seemed a more race neutral choice for the times. Well, change has come again, and it stings a little now for some of us, myself included. Not because of racism for most, but because of nostalgia. Col. Reb is the mascot I remember from my youth. In fact, Col. Reb is still the mascot for the high school I attended, and the news from Oxford makes me realize it's just a matter of time before Harrison Central is forced to confront this symbol of continued racism to some. And honestly, I do understand it. It's easy for me to say, "It's just a cartoon mascot; it's not real. Get over it."
In reality our strongest convictions are often born of intangible ideals. And real crimes. To continue to deny Col. Reb's time has past would make me as guilty of those who refuse to see.
Thanks, Shepard, for being a rebel and speaking up for what's right.
http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20101014/NEWS01/101014012/-1/rss
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