Ole Miss fans won't be hearing the song "From Dixie With Love" at athletic events anytime soon.
Because some fans continued chanting "The South will rise again!" at the end of the song despite requests to refrain from doing so, Chancellor Dan Jones has asked the school band to discontinue playing the song.
Many associate the chant with both the school and the area's segregationist past.
"Here at the University of Mississippi, there must be no doubt that this is a warm and welcoming place for all," Jones wrote in a letter to the Ole Miss community. "We cannot even appear to support those outside our community who advocate a revival of segregation. We cannot fail to respond."
Jones said he would consider lifting the ban "if the chant stops and our elected student leaders ask for the song to return."
Jones said previously that, if the chant continued during last Saturday's game against Northern Arizona, he would ask the band to discontinue the song.
"Yet some have chosen to continue the chant," Jones wrote. "Sadly, we have also heard from a few outside our university who support the chant as an expression of values associated with a segregationist movement discredited so many years ago."
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Comments » 79
RockyTop876 writes:
Another victory for censorship and political correctness. Another defeat to freedom of speech. God bless America!
Hudro writes:
Interesting that one of the rumors around the firing of David Cutcliffe was he wanted to get rid of "colonel Reb" on the sidelines as he thought it hurt his ability to recruit elite black athletes. Many of the old time alumni wanted to keep all the traditions (Dixie being played, colonel Reb, etc) and so David had to go for getting crossways with them.
They still sneak in rebel flags and even though the slave "massa" mascot is gone many of the Ole Miss "traditions" live on. I submit that the new president will find himself on the outs with the same people and he will be gone in short order too.
TommyJack writes:
PC run amok.
SEC__Headgear writes:
The US went from Federalist to Nationalist years ago and noone seemed to notice. "These" United States became "The" United States. These things are bad.
Ole Miss may be doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. The truths of American history continue to be erased.
Volsnfl writes:
Is there Freedom of speech anymore?,I haven't
heard any lately.
topgun writes:
Slive probably threatened a fine or suspension.
Miss will be a tough game, but VOLS win out. GOVOLS!!
richvol writes:
Great suggestion Tellico...
Bloodrunzorange writes:
Go Vols! Beat Ole Mess!
Vol86 writes:
Why are universities run by these liberal idiots. I am almost afraid to send my kids to public schools. At a young age I explain to my kids these people have an agenda and a lot of what they tell you is phooey.
bluetickcoonhound writes:
They would like to sell this type of garbage as heritage. However, if one Ole Miss student interprets the song as racist - it's hate. The world has changed - it's not "PC" to respect and understand history. Get rid of the song.
eefor10c writes:
If they can't play the song then there should never a reference to Ole Miss as this is as racist as it gets. The slaves called the slave owning male the "Massa" and the female the "Ole Miss". I think the whole thing is ridiculous.
LDDFC912 writes:
Personally there would be no way I would associate with any school that made reference to slavery of any kind. The south lost. Get Over IT!
TommyJack writes:
What if one student MISinterprets it as racist?
jmr68ut writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Vol86 writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
RebelVol writes:
Sad day here in Oxford. As we Southerners lose the last of our heritage, the PC crowd smiles in delight over their self righteous moral victory. While there have moments in its history that I am not proud about, the South has long been the scapegoat for racial tensions in America today. In reality, racism is everywhere. When the Civil War broke out, the entire student body(135 at the time)at Ole Miss enlisted in the Confederate Army. Out of that 135 was a 100% casualty rate. Are we not supposed to honor them? Confederate or not, those men were Americans. Dixie is by no means is a hateful song. Dixie honors the South-not the Confederacy. People in my family fought for the South. They didn't fight for slavery(they did not own slaves), but instead they fought for the great state of Tennessee. So for those of you who say that it isn't about heritage, wake up and realize, that it really is.
jmr68ut writes:
Oh please, what planet do you live on???
RockyTop1998 writes:
Doesn't matter anyway If you dont score any points which they wont. They wont be playing that redneck song anyway.
drum45 writes:
I wish the "Pride of the Southland" would play it while they are down there Saturday! That would be SWEET!!!!
feathersax writes:
So...any comments on bands that play "Jungle Boogie"? I've yet to see any pep band song create trouble, except that brought about by whining rabble rousers. "Dixie" was written by Dan Emmet, from Ohio, who never set foot in the South. Free speech is under fire, so I suppose music is next.
Rocky_Top writes:
I'm disappointed with some of my fellow volunteer fan commenters on this issue. I think this is the right move to make for Ole Miss' administration. In fact, I think it's a no brainer. The point of the ban is not to curtail free speech, but to encourage the elimination of rhetoric that is perceived, whether people like it or not, as racist. "The south will rise again", to a lot of people, represents the support for segregation and social inequality. So what if people don't intend for the words to mean that? The fact is that the perception cannot be avoided, because, to many people, black and white, it is racist. The students created this initiative through its body of government, and the chancellor is responding. It's no secret that Ole Miss has lagged for a long time athletically, because frankly a lot of quality black athletes simply don't feel comfortable there. While, from a Vol fandom standpoint, I don't wish any sort of improvement in Ole Miss athletics, I have to give kudos to the chancellor - he got this one right.
give_him_6 writes:
Freedoms in this are leaving us very quickly. They are being taken away from us by people who don't repsect what it cost to win these freedoms. PC had run amok and it needs to be stopped. This idiot Jones is another example of a liberal taking his own agenda and forcing it down the throats of all around him. Let the fans and alumni at Ole Miss vote either yay or nay. Let democracy still have a voice. Is this "talking head" afraid he would come out looking like the jack-azz he is coming over as? My vote is yes!!! On both questions.
MusicCityVol writes:
www.checkerboardchatter.blogspot.com
TommyJack writes:
He lives on this planet. You need to get off that leftest, PC, bandstand. People in the states mentioned probably know 100x more than you about getting along with African Americans. Wise up man.
newtonrail writes:
Although I live South of there now, I grew up in Knoxville and graduated from UT. The relatives that I can identify that fought in the Civil War fought for the Union, as was common in East Tennessee. I loved the song Dixie and still identify with because I'm a Southerner. Dixie was written at least 10 years before the War by one or more Ohioans for minstrel shows. In traveling the country with my job, I've seen more racism of certain types in the North than the South. I hate to see these symbols go away, but then I'm White and don't know what it looks like through a black man's eyes. I am old enough to have worked at McDonald's in Knoxville before the Civil Rights Act, and I had to refuse service to Blacks coming to window. There was no inside service in those days. These were Black folks were travelling through, because locals knew they couldn't be served. I'll carry the shame of that to my grave, even though I was doing what my Owner said. A lot of you don't know what the 50's and 60's were really like.
steamboatticket#484773 writes:
"The South will rise again?" The South has already risen again. That is without African slavery or racial segregation. So what do those people think that they are chanting about? I hope that it is ancestral pride..."in defeat, defiance..."(Winston Churchill) and not the old monsters. If the former, then how far removed is that from the pride we feel as Volunteers?
SEAL_9821 writes:
Hause you don't have a clue. It's not hate...it's heritage. I guess you agree with the far left liberals when they say it's a holiday tree instead of a christmas tree. It's people like you that is sinking this great nation to the brinks of defeat to our enemies. WAKE UP!!!
SEAL_9821 writes:
Ok since you know so much as nothing on this issue then you give me some statistics on what you are saying here. Ole Miss has given scholarships to more black athletes since 92 than any other school in the SEC. That's a fact brother. Go and look it up!!!! It is political correctness at best. I'll gurantee that 99% of blacks living in Mississippi don't have a problem with the song. Look at the student section in Oxford during a football saturday and that will answer your question. There's as many if not more blacks than whites.
Gator_Hater (Inactive) writes:
Dude, why are you attacking somebody just because their opinion doesn't align with your own? Democrat or Republican, you need to step back and respect his right to free speech. This is a Vol fan. Show some respect.
govols1781 writes:
When will the sins of our forefathers be behind us!
cc623 writes:
It's a friggin song not a noose...
WLafIndianavol writes:
The Civil War was not fought over slavery, it was fought over states rights.
The liberal MORONS like the Clinton's, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, "Weird Al" Gore and that idiot Rosie O'Donnell will never understand that!
Southland writes:
oh well secession and states rights still look like the right ideas to me. Tennessee Tech used to be Dixie college but couldnt do that. Remember boys and girls you have no opinion that matters if you aint on the PC comittee. May the south rise again!!!! aint got anything to do with racism as much as it does sectional pride. Hey Ol' Miss fans. The South was beaten burned and pillaged for 4 years followed by the reconstruction years. The South had to start again with basically nothing and yet it has made its way back. Blacks were mistreated and for that we aught to be ashamed. But, for the rise of the South again after being held down for a half a century is something to be proud of. The South is going to rise again. Say it whenever and whereever you want. Add it to the end of any song you want. Pray in Jesus name before football games. I am going to sing Dixie now.
Rocky_Top writes:
Maybe this time you'll actually read my post. I didn't say Ole Miss doesn't offer scholarships to black athletes - I said a lot of "quality" black athletes haven't in the past felt comfortable there. Former Ole Miss coach Tommy Tuberville said it himself. Has Ole Miss won a national championship, or even an SEC championship in football since the 1960s?
And how in the world is 99% of the black population in Mississippi ok with the song when Ole Miss' own student body voted for a resolution to take out the language at issue, and when the Mississippi Alumni Association supports the chancellor's decision?
Madkels writes:
Then move back north if you aren't there already. It's people like you who don't understand the difference between a federal republic and a what we are becoming. Enjoy your last bits of liberty while you can.
tennesseekilt#206652 writes:
Wow - I am amazed at the ignorance shown in this post. The founders of this nation quickly realized that the more de-centralized the power, the less chance there was for tyranny. Thus, we were given separation of powers, and also the 10th amendment to the constitution, which leaves to the states those powers not expressly given to the Federal government. If a state enacts stupid laws (aka California), all sensible people have to do is move to another state. What happens when the Federal government takes all the power and (as it is starting to do) imposes tyranny? What happens when the globalists have their way and the world becomes one government? Where will sensible people who want and value freedom move then?
It is ALL about state's rights. Slavery was nothing but a side issue, and would have gone away on its own without Northern aggression.
Regards,
Scott
TommyJack writes:
Good point re Reconstruction. This is a period that history forgets. You won't see much in history books or Hollywood about the ravages of Reconstruction. But it was there. And it was nasty.
Madkels writes:
Just remember those of you who are "PC". Because people did not speak up, we lost many brave Americans, black and white, at Fort Hood this week. Had someone spoken up and this man looked at closer, these people may still be with us today.
volfan_in_mississippi writes:
Maybe you should look somewhere other than Hollywood and do a little research on your subject before making some ignorant, ill informed, and prejudiced statement lumping the entire population of three states into your misconception of reality. Does racism still exist in Mississippi? Absolutely, but I challenge you to find any state in the great USA that does not contain racism.
I don't really care one way or the other about this song being played at Ole Miss games, but what I am tired of is people thinking that we should be ashamed simply because we are from the South. Believe it or not, we have not lived under Jim Crow laws here for quite some time (shocking isn't it?).
steamboatticket#484773 writes:
Actually, tariff policy was the first national issue which caused Southern politicians to invoke states rights and the threat of secession. So it was not always a euphemism for white supremacy, a belief held by the majority even in the Northern states during the Civil War. And for the record, the Confederate Battle Flag was just that, a battle flag, not a political or racial symbol. Of course, states rights and later the battle flag were coopted by old guard racists.
dvols writes:
who gives a poop, lets just beat the poop out of them ..poop! i dont give a poop what song they play. poop!
steamboatticket#484773 writes:
Your post has a slant that I am not entirely with. But some of these things you say are true. When 100% of a university's student body becomes a casualty in a particular war, isn't it appropriate for the students to adopt their battle flag as a symbol of their own fighting spirit? And shouldn't those fallen soldiers be properly remembered as fellow Americans and not an inhuman negative stereotype? The problem is that American society was in fact racist, and these symbols now seem out of place and time. Personally, I like the reality based tradition way more than the whole dog and cat thing. But it does have its reality based problems.
atlvolunteer writes:
all these free speech arguments are bogus. yes, this qualifies as freedom of speech under the law, and if people don't like it they don't have to go to the school. However, the chancellor wants people to go to his school. therefore he is making an internal policy, not a law. It's the same reason kids can wear a jack daniel's shirt to wal-mart but not to school.
Texvol2 writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
gslaton#227127 writes:
As a 1973 grad of UTK, I remember when Ole Miss came to town, the Daily Beacon staff wrote an open letter to Ole Miss fans asking them not to wave the Rebel flag at the game. They did anyway. It probably fits in with changing the name of the Cleveland Indians or the FSU Seminoles. In either case, the way you feel probably depends a lot on the color of your skin.
steamboatticket#484773 writes:
Yeah dvols, let's for sure take this win! But cussing and discussing this has made me curiouser and curiouser about something that I want RebelVol to explain. What in the name of Slim Pickens are those people thinking when they start singing "The South will rise again?" Everybody knows that the Old South was a monster, like a giant penitentiary where all of the black folks were prisoners and all of the white folks were prison guards. That is no exageration. For crying out loud, can't the Ole Miss crowd sing about something better than that?
Madkels writes:
Very well said. And most forget, or were not taught in government schools, where income for the US government came from in those days before income taxes. It came from tariffs collected at the port or entry. During that time in our history, 70% of all revenue was collected in the south. New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah, Charleston, Norfolk. Not to mention, the southern states had to pay higher tariffs to other nations on exports as a result. So money had it's stake in the north wanting to keep the states united.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/c...
ethanfrome writes:
The color of your skin, yes...but mostly the region that you are raised.
dvols writes:
POOP! why is this on a sports site. POOP 0n the color of your skin. Can we just beat the POOP out of a bunch of POOPHEAD ole miss poopers!
POOP
TommyJack writes:
Well, LV, that made very little sense...on many levels.
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