So today started like any other day and for the most part it was like any other day, save for one tiny moment that I feel extremly passionate about. Below is a letter I have sent to the chancellor of Ole Miss, his office, and the school new paper. I hope that with so many people able to read it something will be done. Before everyone gets their panties all in a bunch let me say this- racism sucks and I wish it didn't exist but unfortunatelly it does and people have to realize it is not a one way street.
Dear Chancellor Jones,
My name is KABO and I am a white student here at Ole Miss. My father is an alumni from the engineering school and I followed in his footsteps, transferring here a few years ago. Over the last year I have, like many students, become very distraught with the way the school is handling so-called "racism" on campus. Col Reb is no longer our mascot, which doesn't even make sense to me seeing as UNLV has an almost exact Rebel mascot (I attended UNLV for a year and nobody thinks twice about it). I feel like every day people are coming up with more and more reasons to say that the white students at Ole Miss are racist and whatnot and I find this very offensive to me. I grew up on the West Coast and never looked at a person differently no matter their color, religion, sexuality, and so on. In fact, I was brought up to look at a person and judge them for their actions and beliefs and who they were overall. When I moved here I actually had no idea what racism was until I saw that many blacks wouldn't even talk to me because they were taught to hate whites, just as it seems some white students were taught to hate blacks. It really hurt me to see how judging people were and to this day I wish the South was less racially divided.
I'm tired being called racist on this campus for no reason, as I know many of my friends are as well. I feel that by specifically pointing out things that perhaps a few people say or do in a negative way (such as saying, "The South will Rise Again") you are making the campus look even worse and actually making these things racial issues. I understand that America as a whole has been unfair to minorities, including the blacks but, I feel the only way to move on is to stop focusing on the negative. Slavery was abolished so long ago that nobody alive was a slave in America nor knew anybody that was a slave. Yes, blacks only somewhat recently were given equal rights as whites, but the same goes for women who had to fight forever to be considered on the same level as men (and last time I checked women still get paid less and treated differently in society). I don't see the school doing anything to make women feel like they have been oppressed and need to be saved so why are we doing this with the black students? If you want to make Ole Miss an institution that does not have racist issues you need to keep everyone on the same playing field, don't separate the campus by making white students feel anger towards black students because the administration keeps tearing down "traditions" in the name of fairness and rights! Fight racism on an individual basis, punish those who have committed racist acts, not every student on the campus.
Now to the point of why I am writing you. I have been upset but not in a way to really speak my mind, but that changed today. Walking to my class around 12:55 a black student passed me (I believe it was in front of Connor Hall), wearing a bright pink shirt that said, "Ex Slave." Yes, every person in America has a right to wear whatever they please, but with how the school has treated white students recently I don't think that such a shirt should be tolerated. I was extremely offended by this girl's shirt and don't see how any other white student wouldn't be. This shirt came off to me like she was calling every white an oppressor, saying that I personally want to put her in a position below me. I wonder how many white people saw this shirt, were offended, but were too scared of being called racists if they said anything about it. If you think I'm making a big deal out of nothing then look at it this way, what would happen to me if I were to walk around campus with a shirt that said, "Ex Slave Owner?" I'm guessing that first I would get hospitalized for whatever beating came to me from blacks on campus, then I'm sure the black students would make such a fuss that you would have to expel me for some sort of racism thing, and I'm sure I would be looking at some law suites that would say I emotionally disturbed every black student on campus or something to that effect. You know I'm right about this and I'm sure there had to be black students on campus who saw this girl and were pissed off with her ignorance, siding with me that race is only an issue because people continue to make it so. I implore you to do something about this, please protect me and other white students from black racists. I believe in Ole Miss and your administration so I know that you will correct this situation.
Respectfully,
KABO
America isn't perfect, and I'm not suggesting that the rights of this particular student to wear ignorant, offensive, and trashy clothes should be taken away, I'm just saying that the school needs to address the fact that whites are victims of racism as well. Looking back in history I don't think there is one group of people that at some point weren't oppressed by some other race/ethnicity. I feel that the world is slowly moving past racist feelings due to things such as the internet and airplanes. It is much harder these days to feel negatively towards any group of people because the world doesn't feel so large and the groups don't feel so defined. In a perfect land racism would one day cease to exist but I know this will probably never happen because a small group of ignorant people will always be around to mess things up.
My name is KABO and I am a white student here at Ole Miss. My father is an alumni from the engineering school and I followed in his footsteps, transferring here a few years ago. Over the last year I have, like many students, become very distraught with the way the school is handling so-called "racism" on campus. Col Reb is no longer our mascot, which doesn't even make sense to me seeing as UNLV has an almost exact Rebel mascot (I attended UNLV for a year and nobody thinks twice about it). I feel like every day people are coming up with more and more reasons to say that the white students at Ole Miss are racist and whatnot and I find this very offensive to me. I grew up on the West Coast and never looked at a person differently no matter their color, religion, sexuality, and so on. In fact, I was brought up to look at a person and judge them for their actions and beliefs and who they were overall. When I moved here I actually had no idea what racism was until I saw that many blacks wouldn't even talk to me because they were taught to hate whites, just as it seems some white students were taught to hate blacks. It really hurt me to see how judging people were and to this day I wish the South was less racially divided.
I'm tired being called racist on this campus for no reason, as I know many of my friends are as well. I feel that by specifically pointing out things that perhaps a few people say or do in a negative way (such as saying, "The South will Rise Again") you are making the campus look even worse and actually making these things racial issues. I understand that America as a whole has been unfair to minorities, including the blacks but, I feel the only way to move on is to stop focusing on the negative. Slavery was abolished so long ago that nobody alive was a slave in America nor knew anybody that was a slave. Yes, blacks only somewhat recently were given equal rights as whites, but the same goes for women who had to fight forever to be considered on the same level as men (and last time I checked women still get paid less and treated differently in society). I don't see the school doing anything to make women feel like they have been oppressed and need to be saved so why are we doing this with the black students? If you want to make Ole Miss an institution that does not have racist issues you need to keep everyone on the same playing field, don't separate the campus by making white students feel anger towards black students because the administration keeps tearing down "traditions" in the name of fairness and rights! Fight racism on an individual basis, punish those who have committed racist acts, not every student on the campus.
Now to the point of why I am writing you. I have been upset but not in a way to really speak my mind, but that changed today. Walking to my class around 12:55 a black student passed me (I believe it was in front of Connor Hall), wearing a bright pink shirt that said, "Ex Slave." Yes, every person in America has a right to wear whatever they please, but with how the school has treated white students recently I don't think that such a shirt should be tolerated. I was extremely offended by this girl's shirt and don't see how any other white student wouldn't be. This shirt came off to me like she was calling every white an oppressor, saying that I personally want to put her in a position below me. I wonder how many white people saw this shirt, were offended, but were too scared of being called racists if they said anything about it. If you think I'm making a big deal out of nothing then look at it this way, what would happen to me if I were to walk around campus with a shirt that said, "Ex Slave Owner?" I'm guessing that first I would get hospitalized for whatever beating came to me from blacks on campus, then I'm sure the black students would make such a fuss that you would have to expel me for some sort of racism thing, and I'm sure I would be looking at some law suites that would say I emotionally disturbed every black student on campus or something to that effect. You know I'm right about this and I'm sure there had to be black students on campus who saw this girl and were pissed off with her ignorance, siding with me that race is only an issue because people continue to make it so. I implore you to do something about this, please protect me and other white students from black racists. I believe in Ole Miss and your administration so I know that you will correct this situation.
Respectfully,
KABO
America isn't perfect, and I'm not suggesting that the rights of this particular student to wear ignorant, offensive, and trashy clothes should be taken away, I'm just saying that the school needs to address the fact that whites are victims of racism as well. Looking back in history I don't think there is one group of people that at some point weren't oppressed by some other race/ethnicity. I feel that the world is slowly moving past racist feelings due to things such as the internet and airplanes. It is much harder these days to feel negatively towards any group of people because the world doesn't feel so large and the groups don't feel so defined. In a perfect land racism would one day cease to exist but I know this will probably never happen because a small group of ignorant people will always be around to mess things up.
I am very interested to see what the response to my letter will be. Will the school blow me off and decide that white students are not worth protecting? Will white students be told that they are not worth as much as blacks are? Will I have to see that my school really isn't paradise? What will happen with the student body? Will the DM never mention me letter? Will they print it or an article about it and in turn will I be ostracized for how I reacted to the situation? Will the black students think that I was trying to make a mockery of civil rights even thought that doesn't even make sense? Will I find out there was some sort of saying on the back of the shirt that completely changed the meaning of it saving "ex-slave" and thereby making my entire argument moot? Will it cause an overnight sales spike in "ex-slave" shirts by Ole Miss students (who would even sell a shirt like that I wonder) that would start a tension between students that hasn't been seen since James Meredith first walked onto the campus grounds? Will nobody learn of my letter because everybody who reads it feel that it is not a big deal? Only time will tell and you know I will keep you posted!
Love and Kisses,
KABO
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