And Now For Something Completely Different...

Years ago, when the sound of 'Dixie' echoed across Hemingway Stadium, the stands would explode into a sea of Confederate flags as the Ole Miss Rebels ran onto the field. Throughout the game, either in celebration or an attempt to rally the Rebels, the band would strike up 'Dixie', and the crowd would come alive, and 'Hotty Toddy' would echo across the field. The Rebels, the music and the flag were all part of what made Ole Miss special. For generations of fans across the country, 'Dixie', the Confederate Flag, and Col.Rebel all symbolized Ole Miss football.

But, times have changed. The Flag was the first to go. I have always found it ironic that those who saw the Flag as a symbol of Ole Miss football were branded as racists, while those who saw the Flag through a purely racial lense were not. Think about that.

Dixie was the second to go. The story was the same. Those for whom the song brought back memories of Archie and the Rebels thrashing Tennessee were again branded 'Racists', while those who harboured a hatred for the song were not.

Col. Rebel is now under assault. The last of the traditional symbols of the Ole Miss Rebels sports program is about to be banished, and those who defend him will be called 'insensitive', 'racist', and worse. Those who assault him will claim that until he is gone, Ole Miss will be at a disadvantage recruiting black athletes because of Col. Rebel, that other schools will use this 'against' us, and we will get 'negative' press coverage.

First and foremost, if you factor everything through racial impacts, you are the racist, not me. Secondly, getting rid of Dixie, and the Flag did not stop other schools from calling Ole Miss "racist" and neither will getting rid of Col. Rebel.
So long as Ole Miss allows itself to be flogged with this crap, it will be flogged with it. The solution to this problem is clear to me.

Ole Miss should return to the high academic standards that it has historically had, and should embark on a program to graduate all of it's athletes. When the football factories at Alabama, Arkansas, etc. paint Ole Miss as 'racists', Ol Miss needs to point out to 'Momma' that Ole Miss graduates more of it's athletes than anyone else, and that the football factories just use them and casts them aside when they are hurt. We need to graduate more athletes into real degrees than anyone else. Everyone wants to play in the NFL, but 'Momma' needs to know the truth is that most don't. She needs to know that whether or not her son is NFL material, he will get that degree that will give him the opportunities in life and the future that she wants him to have. After all, shouldn't this be about getting these kids an education?

Back to the real world, in the grand scheme of things, this is all mouse nutts. The past controversies weren't about the Flag, or Dixie, and this isn't about 'Col. Rebel'. It's about control. If the race baiters can call you 'racist' and control your actions and limit your choices by boycotts, and intimidation, then what have you become?

There are many possibilites, but one thing is clear. You're no Rebel.