Fittingly Boy Scouts of America rebranded itself Scouting America, the week when a fraternity, faced with ratifying racism or rejecting a member, embraced respectability.
The University of Mississippi made me proud to be an alumnus, and Scouting America made it agreeable to be an Eagle Scout, affirming that homosexuals who work with youth are not sexual predators and being LGBTQ+ is not intolerable.
My closest friends from Troop 1 — Mississippi’s first Boy Scout Troop, organized in 1916 — were troubled by vilification of cherished, compatible people for whom we want the best.
Our venerable Scoutmaster Bill Cabaniss and straightforward Assistant Scoutmaster John Nicholson — both signatories to the 1968 Statement Of Belief and Intention — would have haunted us from the grave if relevant Scout Laws were forgotten: Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Cheerful, and Brave.
Chancellor Glenn Boyce demonstrated comparable courage, clarifying that demeaning other human beings is unacceptable in academia and civil society. If the university expelled students fomenting insurrection when it integrated in 1962, the state would be better today.
What went unsaid and undone during Massive Resistance is now treasonous: Between intolerance and meritocracy, state institutions further the future.
A May 7th article in Jackson’s daily newspaper notes that, “Ole Miss leaders have called some of the counter protest actions ‘hurtful’ and ‘offensive’ and have announced an investigation into the incident, where items and threats were also hurled at some of the protesters….
“As Race Davis, a student protester from Tupelo, put it…. ‘There were things like that happening that were definitely very startling … that people would feel the need to do something like that either because they thought it was funny or because they were so enraged themselves in opposition…
“... A student journalist who covered the protest, Stacey Spiehler, said… ‘I like to attend sports games, and so I’ve seen happy mobs and I’ve seen celebratory mobs…. I have never in my life seen a mob of people who were just so angry at the protesters, and obviously the protesters are super angry as well.’
“‘Phi Delta Theta General Headquarters is aware of the video regarding the student protest at the University of Mississippi,’ a statement read. ‘The racist actions in the video were those of an individual and are antithetical to the values of Phi Delta Theta and the Mississippi Alpha chapter. The responsible individual was removed from membership on Friday, May 3.’…
“That incident in particular, as well as several others where students were allegedly hurling racial slurs and issuing threats at protesters, has spurred a campus investigation by Chancellor Glenn Boyce and the University Police Department.”
An article in The Washington Post, the previous day, delineated that those commending culture wars reconsidered.
“Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) on Monday denounced racism and discrimination several days after he shared a video of counter protesters at the University of Mississippi that included a shot of one participant making apelike gestures and noises in front of a Black woman.
“… [As] the camera pans right in the video, one young man is seen at the edge of the screen, jumping up and down, making what sound like apelike noises at the one protester — a Black woman appearing to record the interaction on her phone. Other courter protesters shout, ‘Lock her up!’
“… [On] Monday, four days after the incident, Collins acknowledged in a social media statement that the video showed ‘potentially inappropriate behavior that none of us should seek to glorify.’…
“The video from Ole Miss, particularly of the segment showing the racist trope, quickly went viral online last week. The school — the site of a 1962 riot over desegregation that marked a turning point in the civil rights movement — announced Friday it was aware of a demonstration that ‘conveyed hostility and racist overtones’ and said that it had opened a student conduct investigation.”
Over eight hundred comments posted, some suggesting that Mississippi represents America’s worst. Designating Mississippi as the country’s repository of racism is indefensible Incidents of intolerance elsewhere eclipse such absurdity.
Mississippi opts out of odiousness. The university deserves commendation for refusing to relish ridicule.
Jay Wiener is a Northsider
