It was announced that the University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, will release the candidates that will be considered as their new mascot. The former mascot, Colonel Reb, was dropped in 2003 "following much controversy about the image's racial insensitivity" (USA Today).
Ole Miss Ready for New Mascot (MAKE SURE YOU WATCH THE VIDEO AT THE BOTTOM)
The school has operated without an official mascot ever since. A student group petitioned to have the administration come up with a replacement. They agreed and encouraged people to submit suggestions. One student group hhas suggested replacing Colonel Reb with Admirable Ackbar, a character from the movie Return of the Jedi (the leader of the Rebel Alliance).
Was it the right decision for Ole Miss to "retire" their original mascot in the first place? Should the administration have seriously considered Admiral Ackbar as a legitimate replacement? What do you think would be a good mascot for the Ole Miss Rebels? (due 9/26)
I guess to me it seems a little bit of a waste of time to really worry about the mascot. It's not like he was wearing a KKK outfit or something completely racial. So he's a confedarte general. JUst because they had slaves in the south does not mean the school's opinion agreed with the people of the civil war day. Mississippi was a slave state during the civil war but that does not mean on any level the Ole Miss supports racism. I'm not really sure what a good replacement for the school is and I don't really have much of an opinion on the Admiral Ackbar. IN life we can't please everyone and I think that some people are reall wasting their time worrying so much about it.
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ReplyDeleteIf people want to suddenly be offended by a mascot it is their problem, but if a new class of students at the school wants to make a mascot for the school then good for them. I really think they should have stayed with the original mascot but it is not my choice. If the student body wants a school mascot then they are on the right track. Even if Admiral Ackbar is not the final choice, it gets the ball rolling for a mascot change. As for a mascot idea I would have to go with a biker man on a motorcycle. It really is the only one that is not "racist".
ReplyDeleteA mascot in a school's program is a little thing that might make a school unique. The key word there is little. All over ESPN you see college athletes being paid money or taking incentives to get them to go to that school. These problems make The University of Mississippi's mascot problems trivial. I have no idea why people think the confederate soldier was racist. The Civil War ended over 140 years ago. People take things way to seriously.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brad. The NCAA has other problems they could be dealing with right now but instead this is getting the attention of many people. I too don't understand why people think a confederate soldier is racist. People really are looking too much into this.
ReplyDeleteI think Joe is right. If this was just a new class wanting to make a change and start something new that would be goo but people are suddenly outraged at soemthing thats always been there. It really makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the school should change their mascot. Their mascot was a cool representation of rebel. Just because he was a confederate general doesn't mean the school supports separating from the union or slavery. Ole miss is an old school with tradition. I don't think they should ruin that tradition by having a star wars mascot.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Wyatt. You can't please everyone. The new England patriots aren't going to change their name to please people of the south who still maybe support southern independence.
ReplyDeleteI really like joes idea of a biker. I don't understand why rebel has to be racist. The colonists "rebelled" from english control. So, maybe they could still even have a soldier.
ReplyDeleteBrad has a good point. If a school wants to be unique in its own way than that's great, good for them. It's also a valid point with the confederate soldier. Yet in a way I can not relate very well with racist in that area.
ReplyDeleteJust because the school has been receiving complaints about the mascot being racist, why is this just becoming evident now? just because it is a confederates soldier, it is not racist. It was a bit piece of our past but even though it could be interpreted racist, what has happend to actually make it racist. Admiral person would be dumb because people will find a way to make that racist too probably so they should just keep their old idea because it was unique and a big part of their school.
ReplyDeleteBrad's reasoning is legit fr having this because a mascot is a representation of their school If not for the complaints now, i do not understand why they are just now complaining about these comments. This is a great representation by their school and shows how they fight.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Joe said because if they would change their mascot they should modernize it. If they are going to change they should go out of the past and get a new mascot that will revolutionize their school and get it into today's society.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is stupid that they removed their mascot in the first place. I don't think someone is going to be seriously offended by a mascot that is a confederate general and if they are, they can get over it. I think it would ruin the tradition if they replaced the mascot with a star wars character also, but if the students want Admiral Ackbar, then its their decision.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Harrison because the mascot didn't show that the school supports slavery or racism, its just a school tradition.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Joe because it is the students decision if they want to have Admiral Ackbar as their mascot or not. But I also think that the student body should be able to decide if they can have Colonel Reb back also.
ReplyDeleteI think that it was a stupid decision in the first place to remove the original mascot. I really don't think its that offensive to have the colonel reb as the mascot. Even if they are, I don't think it was causing that big of a problem. If they replace their mascot with Admiral Ackbar, that's their own choice. However, I think the best choice would be to petition the return of Colonel Reb.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alex because of when he said just because the mascot was a confederates soldier it is not racist. The complaints about the mascot were not making that big of a negative effect on the school.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with sam about how the decision to make Admiral Ackbar the new mascot is the students decision. However, as i said before, i really think they should have just stuck with the original mascot.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sam as well because if the students come to a overwelming choice over the mascot then that's what it should be. It is a school "tradition" to some, the mascot, so it is kind of a big deal to them.
ReplyDeleteWHy would Ole Miss change something that has been there for a long time. i think that it was stupid for them to retire the mascot because it was evil like a terriost or a kkk member or an al queada member. it was stupid and they should bring it back because it is there tradition to do it. i think that the mascot was good the way it waa and if the ncaa doesnt think that than Ole Miss should argue with the ncaa to keep their mascot.
ReplyDeletei agree with what sam said when he said that he doesnt think that anyoen was offended by the mascot and i think that if it did offended someone then they should get over it and forget it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what joe said when he agreed with sam. if you take away someones traditon they will get mad and that is what the ncaa is doing to the students. they are just making them mad and now with the students mad you dont know what they will do know and that is a really bad thing.
ReplyDeleteI believe its ridiculous that they got rid of the mascot in the first place. People need to lighten up on stuff and stop accusing people of being racist or something of having a double meaning. Ole Miss had no intention of being racist when they picked a confederate general as their mascot. I dont believe they should have to change their mascot just because some people arent intelligent enough to realize that the mascot was picked based off the name of the team and not because Ole Miss is racist.
ReplyDeleteI agree with massing when he says that they should argue with the NCAA to keep their mascot. They shouldn't have to change tradition just because of complaints.
ReplyDeleteI agree with joe when he says that its the students choice. If they want to change the mascot themselves then they should be able to. However I dont believe a couple of complaints should be the motivation behind the change
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mason. People are so uptight about everything. The mascot has nothing to do with racism. People are taking it way to seriously
ReplyDeleteI agree with Robbie too. Tradition is key in almost all universities around the US. The University of Mississippi's mascot has always been that soldier. It erases all of that history
ReplyDeleteI think the mascot should stay in place. It has been their mascot forever and why change it now. I do not see why its a big deal at all. They could always adopt the Roncalli Running R for a replacement.
ReplyDeleteI agree with mason. It is dumb that this country still makes it a big deal about a Rebel soldier. It is a part of our history.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with brad. Ole Miss needs to keep tradition. The mascot is a key part of that tradition. I still think we should have our old Rebel man back.
ReplyDeleteI dont agree with the fact that the mascot should be removed because of racial insensitivity. This is a part of our nations history and shouldnt be considered to have racist motives. It is part of the schools history and should be treated that way.
ReplyDeletei agree with jack that the rebel mascot should be allowed because it is a representaion of an event in our nations history. As long as the mascot is displayed in a respectable way it should be allowed.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with brad that by getting rid of the mascot the you are erasing the universities tradition. Tradition is a huge part in colleges and by getting rid of the mascot you are erasing Ole Miss history.
ReplyDeleteI think it is absurd that people would make such a big deal about something as stupid as a mascot. History is history and like mason said the mascot was based off the teams name. I don't believe the mascot should be changed just because people have nothing better in their lives, but to come up with stupid reasons to end something they don't want there. I also agree with Wyatt that we can't please everyone in an issue, but something as simple as arguing about a mascot is really a huge waste of time.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with Ole Miss retiring their mascot. I do not think that it comes off as prejudice. Their mascot is a big part of their tradition at Ole Miss and I think they should be able to keep it. There is no cruel intentions to racism either, considering there is black people that attend the University.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Brad about the tradition aspect of this controversy. People base a lot of what they believe on tradition, and when you change tradition, many people will not agree.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Joe also. Everyone can see something racist in every mascot in the nation. People just need to stop focusing on the mascots and pay attention to the sports, which actually matter.
ReplyDeleteAnother case of being hypersensitive due to actions of people who had a different set of values. This issue is blown way out of proportion, it is just entertainment during games, not a political statement.Hopefully this is the last "mascot controversy".I wonder what the students and faculty could have accomplished if they would have spent a similar amount of time on something more meaningful.Their suggested replacement demonstrates that they do not consider it too serious of an issue, otherwise it would have been the Silver Surfer.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Wyatt. People are spending way to much time on an issue that shouldn't be seen as a big deal.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Joe. The students' idea to come up with a new mascot shows that the school is moving in a positive direction.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that the mascot should be a problem. As long as there is no racism involved with the mascot. Getting rid of the mascot will not affect the racism problem. The new mascot should be an origional, not a copy of another movie. I believe that they should make sure the entire school agrees with the mascot.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jack. The mascot should not be changed because they have had it all this time anyways. Most of the people probably do not even know what the mascot even resembles.
ReplyDeleteTo add to Nick, I do not believe that racism is present in the Ole Miss mascot. The only racism is the people who think way to much into it.
ReplyDeleteI think that Ole Miss should not have retired their mascot. Its about tradition and i tink our society has come a far way from the prejudice we have had in our country. I thought we have moved pass that and Ole miss should not have changed their mascot. Were the Roncalli Rebels and we have not had to change our name.
ReplyDeleteI agree with brad. The school should keep their traditon so the school and students can be happy.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with alex, the mascot is a piece of the past and should reamin the same.
ReplyDeleteThe removing of the mascot was a good idea for one main reason. This reason is that our country is getting away from the past of racism and needs to get rid of anything that could represt racism. I find it stupid if Admirable Ackbar was the replacement. Why would they want to us a movie character as a college mascot? Usually a masscot has history and a story behind it. I beleive they should just leave the mascot out for a while until a new is found.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Fogg is right because he says that a mascot should not be from a movie and that it needs to have history and a story behind it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Wyatt when he says that no one is going to be happy from this situation. THey should just move on and not worry about it any more.
ReplyDeleteThey never should have replaced the mascot in the first place. It is theirs and it is not meant to be racist. The Jedi mascot was at most a joke. If that was actually taken seriously then they should not have been in charge of anything important.
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