by Zeba Blay via huffingtonpost.com
The University of Mississippi is taking major strides in acknowledging its racist history. The institution, affectionately known as Ole Miss, announced plans on Thursday to recognize pre-Civil War campus buildings that were built by slaves.
According to NBC, in addition to placing plaques on buildings built by slaves, the university will also remove the name of white supremacist James K. Vardaman from a campus building. Vardaman was the governor of Mississippi from 1904 to 1908. “As an educational institution, it is imperative we foster a learning environment and fulfill our mission by pursuing knowledge and understanding,” Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter said in a news release.
Ole Miss famously became embroiled in racial tension and violence in 1962, when James Meredith became the first black student to attend the institution as the result of court-ordered integration. The move is part of an ongoing process on the campus to reconcile with its past, provide historical context, and create a more welcoming environment for a diverse student body.
To read and see more, go to: Ole Miss To Post Signs Recognizing Campus Buildings Built By Slave Labor | HuffPost
December 22, 2024
Not before time, racism was a way of life that should never have been tolerated. Here’s hoping we see more educational establishments following suit. We can’t hide our past sins and really shouldn’t anyway. They happened and we have become more tolerant now and should acknowledge our past mistakes, openly accept they were mistakes, apologise for them and build a much stronger, integrated future where everyone is welcome and treated as equals, where skin colour, religion and sexual preferences don’t matter a damn because they are what make us unique anyway.