The vandalism of the James Meredith statue at the University of Mississippi

As we all know, the James Meredith statue at the University of Mississippi was recently vandalized. Several students draped an old Georgia state flag, the one emblazoned with the rebel flag of the confederacy, around the statue’s soldiers and placed a noose around the statue’s neck. The university called in the state police department and the FBI to investigate the crime. The students charged were three freshmen that were members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. Upon hearing about the vandalism, Sigma Phi Epsilon’s national headquarters launched an investigation into the chapter. The three boys were immediately kicked out. Upon further investigation, the University of Mississippi’s chapter closed due to underage drinking, hazing, and the vandalism of the James Meredith statue.

Student leaders on campus acted quickly and organized a “people protest” in response to the vandalism. Members of the campus community came to discuss how they felt about the incident. Many had insightful comments, “until the university begins to address the real issues of systemic institutionalized racism on this campus, until they begin to take seriously the environment of white supremacy that exists on this campus, we will continue to see incidents like this.” And a member of the student government reported, “We have a responsibility to our classmates and to the value of our education to do something about this. An attitude of intolerance may well be unchangeable overnight, over a week or month, but we have to start somewhere. And, the more we fight now, the quicker acceptance can hopefully become our full reality.”

As of right now, I haven’t been able to find any news of the students’ status as members of the university. I don’t know if they were suspended for a certain amount of time, or fully expelled and barred from the campus (if anybody knows, please tell the group!). I do know, however, that as of now, the students are not being charged for a hate crime, just vandalism.

Before spending the semester in the class and being a part of this blog, I never realized that the racial tensions of today were so bad. I cannot believe that these students are not being charged for committing a hate crime because, to me, these actions are obviously rooted in hateful feelings towards a person of another race. What actions do you think should have been taken by the University of Mississippi and law enforcement in response to these actions? Also, it is obvious that many of the students and campus leaders are progressive thinkers. What are the best ways in which they could spread knowledge, understanding, and racial unity on their campus?