After watching the ESPN 30 for 30 “Ghosts of Ole Miss,” it really opened up my perspective of racism in the history of sports. We all know the story of Jackie Robinson and how he conquered racism in baseball, but this story about a school in the deep south during a time of segregation gave me lots of insight about the subject. Initially, the sports landscape in the United States was completely dominated by white males. Not just football, but every sport in the country. This landscape in the sports world was really a model of the entire country in fact. People of color during this time period were clearly segregated by white people all around the country. It was the norm. However, when James Meredith was enrolled into Ole Miss University, President Kennedy sent a message to the entire country that racial segregation would not be tolerated anymore. Not only did racial interaction have an impact on the country, who rioted violently, it had an impact on the sports world as well. Admitting James Meredith into Ole Miss University fueled the football team to an undefeated season, and a historic one too. Looking back on the chaos and adversity that occurred during the shift in culture, it is very important that we acknowledge our past. According to the article “Controversy over mascots at Ole Miss,” the school has “discouraged Confederate battle flags at football games, discontinued “Dixie” as the unofficial fight song and raised enrollment of black students to 14 percent.” Ole Miss has made sure to continue their tradition, but has acknowledged that in today’s society, some of what used to be done in the past is unacceptable today. Overall, the documentary helped me realize that racism in sports was such a bigger problem than I thought it was, and thoroughly explained how the sports landscape and the racial landscape of our country work together.
In the 30 for 30 Ghosts of Ole Miss, the topic of integration in southern universities is explored throughout the course of the documentary. Now obviously, the integration of the schools was a very slow and tough process for the federal government, as it took many years for schools in the U.S. to get fully integrated. In the film, a student by the name of James Meredith was attempting to get admitted to the school and he met harsh resistance from the student body, and even the government of Mississippi. In order to get him in the school, the president of the United States had to use the army to admit him to the school. At the lowest point, there was a riot where no black men were involved just to show that the students didn’t want a black person at their university. All James Meredith wanted was to be a student, to a part of something, but that was taken from him. People refused to accept the integration and so many people were hurt. As a result, Mississippi was viewed as a bad place and it hurt their rankings in the AP polls even though they were undefeated. In a time of terror for the University, the football team united and showed that they were one, because of the perfect season that Ole Miss had, the football was able to show that Mississippi was a good place and that they wouldn’t let the anti integration pull them down. The Documentary did a good job of showing the controversy that occurred at the university during the time of integration and it brought up the question: What impact did integrated sports have on the country? Well as a whole, it showed that black and white people could be together, that they didn’t need to be separate. While some people still refuse to accept what happened in the south Both the integration of Ole Miss and sports as a whole, showed that integration was possible, that black and white people could be together, and that neither was superior to the other.
After watching the 30 for 30 The Ghosts of Ole Miss, I learned a lot about the history of racism at Ole Miss and the history of racism in the country as a whole. The first thing that came to mind was why hadn’t I heard about what happened? A major cost of failing to acknowledge our past is that many people aren’t aware of how terribly African American students were treated at Ole Miss. However, a major cost of acknowledging our past is that it can be really offensive to some people. For example in the documentary, Buck Randall a former Ole Miss football player refused to be in the film because he did not want to acknowledge his past. He was afraid of hurting people and afraid of being hurt by others because of what he did in his past. Another example occurred when Ole Miss switched their mascot from Colonel Reb the Rebel Black Bear. The school was acknowledging their past but this made many people angry. They were upset that the school was so worried about being politically correct and they didn’t like that their years of tradition were being changed because of this. This again shows that when people acknowledge their past it makes many others unhappy. There were many problems that occurred during the integration process at Ole Miss. There were violent riots, chants saying, “The South Will Rise Again”, school dropouts, and overall intolerance. The riots around the school injured and even killed students, the African American students were not shown any respect or given any of the same resources as the other students and as a form of petition, Ole Miss lost many students and fans. There is still general disrespect towards African Americans, especially in the south, however we are making big improvements thanks to schools in the past going against social norms and starting the integration process.
Sports play an integral role in the racial landscape of America and history has proven that black athletes have pioneered the way to equality. Jackie Robinson, perhaps the most famous black baseball player and athlete of all time, broke baseball’s color barrier 15 years before Martin Luther King Jr. marched on Washington, eight years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat. While MLK and Parks fought for political and societal rights, Robinson and every other trailblazing black athlete fought for hope and opportunities. Sport is used as an escape from real life, a chance for people of all ages, colors, and backgrounds to come together whether they are watching or playing. As stated in “Ghosts of Ole Miss,” the people of Mississippi may have ranked last in the country for income, however they could matchup against anyone on the gridiron. Sports can be the ultimate equalizer because the skills needed to succeed in them are available to anyone who puts in the effort; Speed and strength do not discriminate. In fact, I think that it was due to sports and the likes of Jackie Robinson that society began to accept blacks of off the field. When professional sports became integrated and people began to see that black athletes could perform just as well, if not better than whites, society realized that their perception of blacks were wrong; they were equal all along. I do not believe that sports or society have either reached complete integration for similar reasons. As we read in the article “Segregation in Sports,” there is still a belief that black athletes are not as intelligent as whites and that they are incapable of being in high-pressured positions such as pitcher or quarterback. This idea resonates with the fact that when Barack Obama was first running for president and even after he was elected, much of the country doubted his abilities due to the color of his skin. In my mind, the documentary shows that the biggest factor during the integration process was fear. All of the harmful demonstrations depicted show that the people of Mississippi were afraid to let go of their hateful past and accept the inevitable future. In my mind, the craziest part of the entire story is how the governor of Mississippi continually refused the demands of the president. This represents the ignorance and stubbornness of the Confederate ideals displayed.
After watching the 30 for 30 “Ghosts of Ole Miss,” it made me have a very different perspective of racism in the history of all sports. One thing that really stood out to me was the racism in the country and how it really had a big impact on people’s lives. People are not aware of how upsetting, or discouraging it can make someone feel. African American students were treated terribly at Ole Miss, as if they were looked at differently due to their skin color. For example, Buck Randall who was a former football player at Ole Miss did everything to not be in the film since he didn't want to remember his past or ever think about it. Randall did not want to hurt anyone and he was afraid of being hurt by others due to what he has done in the past and the damage it has given him. He will always have that stuck with him. Also, during the documentary, another example was when Ole Miss switched their mascot from Colonel Reb the Rebel Black bear. All the school was doing was romanizing on their past and people were getting more and more angry at them. The whole school was upset and anxious about being correct and they did not like that their years of having one tradition that they do every year, be changed because of just one thing. I believe that when people acknowledge their past it makes many other people unhappy about a situation. Many problems occurred also in the film during the integration process at Ole Miss. Additionally, an example of that is having the violent chants saying “The South Will Rise Again”, school dropouts, and also the bigotry. The riots caused so much depression due to them injuring, killing, and harassing students, the african students were not given any respect or treated the same as other students which caused for more of an awful situation. Due to this all happening, Ole Miss lost so many students, fans, and supporters since this depressing issue. Even today people show signs of disrespect towards many of the African Americans. But an upside is that we are making more and more improvements due to schools in the past trying to start the process and make things better.
After watching “The Ghosts of Ole Miss”, I do believe the sporting world can combat the racism seen in our society. When the Battle of Oxford concluded, the students and faculty at the University of Mississippi were divided, afraid, and overwhelmed. It appeared that the issue of integration would haunt of Ole Miss for years to come as James Meredith, the African-American who was at the center of the controversy, was still being bombarded with words of hatred and disgust. However, as the Ole Miss football team continued their quest for a perfect season, the attention of the fans, faculty, and students became more geared towards the football program rather than the enrollment of James Meredith. This allowed the university to move past their issues with integration, which slowly healed the wounds caused by the riot. While there was definitely still racism present at the university after the football team’s perfect season came to an end, Ole Miss athletics took another step towards preventing racism by changing their mascot to the Rebel Black Bear. The original mascot was Colonel Reb, “a white-goateed, cane-toting Southern plantation owner that many have criticized as racist and anachronistic.” The actions by the University of Mississippi in the past and present demonstrates how the sporting world can combat racism in society. Also, I believe it is fair to expect the sporting world to combat racism because few industries have the platform that the sports world has. In fact, many athletes do use their platform to speak against racism. At the 2016 ESPY awards, NBA superstars Lebron James, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwayne Wade used the opening moments to promote social change after racial profiling by police officers resulted in the deaths of several African-Americans across the nation. Since athletes are the role models of many young adults and children, it is necessary for athletes to combat racism seen in our society.
When James Meredith enrolled at Ole Miss, there were many problems that took place during the integration process. On the campus, students and staff rioted leaving two dead, hundreds wounded, and many arrested. The Kennedy administration called for National Guardsmen and other federal forces to get involved. People were protesting the enrollment of an African American man into a completely white school. However, while this was going on the University of Mississippi football team, was in the making of a historic undefeated season. Nearly the entire country watches sports and the people that play sports are real people. Meaning they aren’t a made up character from a movie or TV show and while some athletes may act differently in front of cameras, for the most part people can relate to some of these athletes. Also, fans are very dedicated to their team. I remember talking about how during the Olympics many Americans put aside the athlete’s skin color, gender, or sexuality in order to cheer for the United States to win. Americans wanted the US to be the best of all countries in the Olympics, so they did not really care about what the athlete looked like. I believe sports is an amazing stage to advocate for social change and equality in the country. For example, Colin Kaepernick and the US women’s soccer team have showed their fans and the media that what is going on in the world is wrong. Of course there are still racial inequalities that exist in sports, they exist out of sports too. There is racial discrimination in sports and over/under representation of different races in different sports. For example, the NBA is mostly African American men, but the MLB is mostly white males. And of course there are still debates over the Native American names and imagery for sports teams such as the Cleveland Indians and the Washington Redskins. I believe changing the Ole Miss mascot was the right thing to do. While I understand that some Ole Miss fans may be frustrated with the change because Colonel Reb was a tradition for such a long time. I do believe that as we make advances in society including integration in not only sports, but also schools, it is important to make everyone feel comfortable not only in their own skin, but in society. Colonel Reb was a white male who owned a plantation in the south that was criticized as being racist. In my opinion, I don't think any picture of a white male means that they enslaved someone, but this specific mascot was used in a time when African American males picked cotton for little to no pay. I’m not a hundred percent sure that the black bear that is actually brown was the right mascot to change it to, but I do not think it should be up to Ole Miss alumni. I believe the current students at Ole Miss should be able to pick without anyone else breathing down the back of their necks. Times have changed.
The 30 for 30 documentary The Ghosts of Ole Miss perfectly depicted how the integration process in sports was both difficult and troubling for schools and universities that existed in the south. During the integration process those in the federal government we not in-touch or in-tune with how state representatives and governors felt during that time period. When the order was given to have James Meredith integrated into Ole Miss the governor refused causing immediate backlash and outrage from the White House. This act of explicit incompetence was one of the sparks that started the Riot of 1962 on the Ole Miss campus. Since the rep from the state believed that it was ok to defy the White House than the students felt the same way. The way that certain schools were integrated is strikingly similar to the way that certain sports are integrated. When running and track were integrated and Jesse Owens represented the US as the main olympic athlete competing in the Berlin games, German dictator adolf hitler was not in favor. Following Owens’ huge win to receive the Gold Medal for the US, hitler refused to shake his hand. Instead of respecting a man for his athletic accomplishments and superiority, hitler chose to let his color define the person that he is. This was the attitude of the south during that time. Instead of respecting someone for the skillset that they possess (whatever it may be: athletic or academic) they judge and discriminate against them. Throughout time there has been many racial inequalities in sports ranging from offensive mascots to blatant segregation. All the way up to the year 2010 the Ole Miss mascot was Colonel Rub, a southern plantation owner. The meaning behind this mascot is more than racially insensitive but also politically incorrect and the fact that it was changed just recently equates to a lack of urgency to redefine the school from its previous racial issues. Other mascot issues include organizations such as the Washington Redskins and the Florida State Seminoles in which both team/school include a mascot that is of indian origin. There has been huge controversy surrounding these mascots for years because the indian community do not appreciate them being the face of public organizations with no ties back to their culture.
The 30 for 30, The Ghost of Ole Miss portrayed the effects of integration on colleges in the south and their sports teams. One of the main problems shown in the film was the communities stubbornness and inability to let go of their hate. With a state’s governor leading the charge against James Meredith’s enrollment at Ole Miss, the state will respond in the same manner. The film showed the aggression that the Ole Miss students showed against Meredith and the government for allowing him to enroll. College students are just beginning to feel the freedom of their rights and with that comes the need to express their opinions. This allowed for the situation to escalate so quickly and violently. The film ended with the college in present day and showed the progress that the community has made. Although, there are now many african american students on campus and on the sports teams, there is still much more to be made. With interviews of the football players on the team at the time, the film was able to not only gain credibility on the matter, but also get an insight into how the football team was affected and how it still is. Acknowledging the past for the way it took place was difficult for the players, because they would like that time to be remembered as the “dream team” and not the year Ole Miss fell apart. By acknowledging the events that took place, the film was able to show the underlying issues and uncover the truth about Ole Miss and the racism that took place.
“Ghosts of Ole Miss” showed me just how big of an impact sports have in society, and how in many scenarios sports reflect society and have helped our world through tough controversy. One subject that would be categorized under “tough controversy” is segregation, and that’s exactly what this 30 for 30 touched upon. One of the biggest turning points in sports history was Jackie Robinson and the barrier he broke in baseball. This did not only break down walls in the sports industry, but also created a domino effect and impacted our society as we know it. Sports history became American history. This documentary showed the impact sports history has on a topic such as segregation. The directors keyed in on showing just how passionate people in Mississippi were about not integrating. Showing footage of riots and fights, including the army, all arguing against the integration of African Americans into the school gave me more insight into the racial landscape. Along with the numerous amounts of protests, they also showed how the white race was the majority of the sports world, emphasising football. This connects back to how sports history is world history because the white race dominating wasn’t just in sports, it was the same case around the country as well. When sports started to become more integrated, this was a eye opener to the general public. They saw how people of color could perform in athletics and matchup well against the white race in sports. This idea trickled down into society, and people started to accept the idea of integration not only in sports, but in the community as well. The landscape began to shift, people’s minds did too. As they showed in the documentary, many people they interviewed were very embarrassed looking back at their behavior towards African Americans. For example a past Ole Miss football player, Buck Randall, did not participate in the documentary as he was ashamed of his actions in the past. This shows how far society has come since the time period shown in this documentary and current day. Though I do not believe we have 100% ended segregation, I do know we have taken giant leaps from where we were. This documentary did a good job showing the difference in the past society and today’s; and showing how sports history as effected the world’s history, especially on a topic like segregation.
Sports have really shown how far we have come in our country in terms of racial equality. Jackie Robinson played his first MLB game in 1947, and gradually over time more and more black athletes joined the MLB. Today, I would say that the majority is not white. And that is how it is at Ole Miss, besides the majority part. Over the past 50 years, Ole Miss went from not having any black people on campus to 17% of the student body being black. Next year I will be going to Elon University where 91% of the student body is white, so that shows not everywhere is becoming as adjusted as others. There will always be work to be done. During the integration process, there were a lot of fighting, riots, and many other acts of violence. Not only that, people would verbally attack incoming black students. There was a lot of resistance coming from whites to change. The fact that the army had to be brought into stop the riots at Ole Miss all because of James Meredith is ridiculous. Clearly it was a different time and different political climate, but the entire situation got way out of hand. Integration in sports was very similar to the integration events with James Meredith. I watched the movie “42”, the movie about Jackie Robinson, and I see a lot of similarities with the 30 for 30 film and “42”. For example, there were riots, people shouting racial slurs at him, and violence directed at Robinson and Meredith. Sports showed and proved to people that black people are equal to them and should be treated with respect. That concept seems so obvious and anything besides that is crazy, but even 50 years ago, it was a heavily rejected concept. As far as I am aware, there are not many inequalities in sports. I guarantee that there is some kind of inequality, but it is so rare or inconsistent that it is not talked about. Sports is a very easy way to combat racism because sports is something that every race can bond over and there is no issue with money, or where you are from, or advantages. It is just one person or team versus another, simple. Failing to acknowledge our past is not good because it is how you learn and grow. Every time you make a mistake, you see what you did wrong and better yourself from it. Acknowledging the past is hard and most people don’t like talking about anything in the past, but this especially is really hard to acknowledge. The idea that our grandparents could have been there saying those slurs or hurting those that were trying to integrate is hard to imagine. That is why we ignore it, it is hard to imagine that someone we know or knew was racist and part of the embarrassing part of our history.
Many problems came about at ole miss during the integration process. For the most part, there was a lot of change going on, and the school community was not comfortable with a lot of it. Along with the integration, there were other small changes that occurred later on in the process. One of those changes was the change of the school mascot. What was previously a white plantation owner is now a generic black bear. This caused much conflict, and it is still going on now. According to an article by the ny times, "School administrators say they want to balance tolerance with tradition at Ole Miss." While others argue that small changes like this are ruining the schools roots. Other problems occurring during the integration process were much more severe. The film described conflict as being like an additional civil war battle. Interviews were conducted in the documentary saying that national guards were being called in, and the feud got violent enough to even have caused death. The integration process also impacted the sports at ole miss. For the most part, the process was a big distraction to the athletes on the ole miss football team, as well as the fans. The players were getting too involved in the conflict, and according to the documentary were even getting physically violent in the riots. Also the team was having their best season in history. They even ended up going undefeated, however due to all of the negative stigma around the school, the team did not receive the cheers and support from america that they deserved. Another way that the integration process impacted sports at ole miss was that it made the games a lot about politics. It brought politics into the games with controversy over what aspects of the team and school were racist. For example, they banned the confederate flag, changed the mascot, and banned a song that was very traditional at ole miss football games. The games became more about protest in my eyes than it was about sports. It even went as far into politics as the towns politician spoke out against the integration of ole miss at one of the home football games. Overall I think that the integration process had some very disturbing affects on the southern community, as well as many negative affects toward sports.
After watching the 30 for 30 “Ghosts of Ole Miss”, I saw a new light and perspective of how racism was in the past history of sports. This documentary shows a different angle of how a sports team can affect the racist view of a state. Which is different from the common story about how Jackie Robinson broke the collar barrier. This documentary goes into how it affected the school population and entire state of Mississippi. In the past, the sports world, and more specifically the sports world in the south, was entirely made up of white population. However, when James Meredith enrolled into the University of Mississippi, even though he wasn’t directly involved with the football teams, he had one of the greatest impacts on a sports world that one man could. The Mississippi football team had two paths to choose from. They could do what everyone else in the school was doing, and rejecting Meredith from their school. Or they could do what they have always done, and play football. They chose the latter. This choice fueled their team to an improbable undefeated season. This choice by the team to ignore the hatred that filled their state and focus on what really mattered to them, which was definitely not race, is a very admirable choice in that day and age. The article “Controversy over mascots at Ole Miss,” states that the school has strongly discouraged confederate flags at football games and has totally discontinued Dixie as its unofficial fight song. The school has also raised the enrollment of black students up to 14 percent. Being a big state university from the south, you would expect their to be a lot of tradition and conservative traditions that have stayed with the university of the years. However, Ole Miss, has decided that they are moving forward into the new progressive era. They are becoming more accepting, while also keeping some of the ideals that make Ole Miss, Ole Miss.
After watching the 30 for 30 documentary Ghost of Ole Miss I believe it really had an impact on the way people looked at racism. This documentary showed us the struggles African Americans had back then and in the south. They weren’t given the fair treatment that whites had and the ability to get the same education. As showed in the film James Meredith was one of the first black male that was able to study at Ole Miss and as a result to this opportunity, many riots broke out. People from all around came to the Ole Miss campus that didn’t belong there to join the protest. Many students were either injured or killed. In the film James Meredith stats, “If I showed no fear, that would scared the life out of everybody who thought I should be scared.” He fought for his rights and wanted to be treated equal. He was terrorized everyday and a result to this he was escorted to class by police officials so that he would not be harmed or killed. The South connected with a song, Dixie. This song “celebrates the history of savory” which would be played at football games; “The south would rise again”, was a chant that students would yell at football games towards the end of the Dixie song. I believe that this all proves that acknowledging our past would offend some people but would also make some realize the harsh behavior that went on.
The documentary, The Ghost of Ole Miss, and The Controversy Over Mascots at Ole Miss address the racial inequalities that exist in sports as well as the problems occurred in the integration process. In the documentary Ghost of Ole Miss the movie portrays a young African American student named James Meredith. James Meredith was a smart individual and met the requirements to be accepted into Ole miss. However Ross Barnett, the Governor at the time, decided that no school in Mississippi was allowed to be integrated. This started a big problem in the integration process since the law said all schools had to accept students of color. A battle broke out. The State of Mississippi vs The United States of America. Not only did this battle injure many people, it caused more problems than solutions. For example the fight song “Dixie” was then established to be a racist song linked to the confederacy. The thousands of confederate flags at the football games had to be taken down and so on. It was unacceptable and looked bad for a community now of not just whites, but also African Americans to be condemning racism. This in all started a big deal of problems that Ole Miss had to fix to ensure the success of the integration process. The Documentary and the Article about the Mascot addressed the racial inequalities in sports. The Ole Miss mascot is described as “a white-goateed, cane-toting Southern plantation owner that many have criticized as racist and anachronistic.” Already the inequalities for colored student athletes are seen at Ole miss. These Athletes would have to play for a mascot that signifies slavery and racism. As well these students would have to play for a crowd full of confederate supporters and for a racist fight song. This is racial inequality to the extremes. Comparing this back to my life and modern times there is definitely racial inequality in sports. One example I have encountered was on the track team. Since Westport is full of caucasians, many presume African Americans to be star runners and jumpers. This presumption of African Americans puts a lot of pressure on these athletes to attain these goals set by their fellow teammates and coaches. This in itself is an example of modern day Racial inequality and really affects athletes of color. These athletes nowadays question what life would be like to not have been born African American or to wonder what sports would be like without racial inequality. In my opinion this is very wrong and should be prevented. But the thing about these issues are that whatever we try and do to lessen and extinguish racial inequality it will never be enough to prevent it forever.
Ghosts of Ole Miss gave me a new understanding on the cost and benefit of acknowledging our past. It was clear in the 30 for 30 that Ole Miss had some pretty nasty history when it comes to race, so there is a lot that can be acknowledged, but it is a matter of if it should or shouldn't acknowledged and there are pros and cons to both sides. If one were to acknowledge the past of Ole Miss then it can be seen as pointlessly bringing back times of hatred, racism and segregation. Many people believe we should move on and forget the past because what good will it do if we constantly remind ourselves of a dark and terrible past especially with all of the progress made since then. Some people argue that bringing up our past will only set us further back because we will be reminding everyone of any negative past we may have had which will just cause further debate rather than focussing on only positives. There is lots of reasoning for both sides of whether or not it is a good idea to bring up the past. The reason it's a good idea is because it is something we can talk about and look back at something and be shown how not to do something. We need to understand that we can learn from mistakes and wrongdoings and the only way to learn is to see what not to do. We can't just bury something forever and not talk about it again. As a community we should feel comfortable being able to recognize that we made mistakes and need to address them when things may seem to be going south because we have something to learn from. Do we need to be reminded of it every day? No, of course not, but there is obvious lessons to be learned from the events that occurred at Ole Miss. As stated in the article Controversy Over Mascots at Ole Miss, "former mascot, a white-goateed, cane-toting Southern plantation owner that many have criticized as racist and anachronistic." this is something we have to recognize. Today being told that a plantation owner represented a school is unfathomable, but it is a reality. The point of being reminded of this isn't because it's a common thing present day for schools to want to have racist or questionable mascots, but it is because we simply can't erase the past. It is better to be educated on topics even if they may get ugly rather than bury them for good. The documentary focussed on an African American student attending Ole Miss at a time where there was tons of racial dispute and it caused the school to break out. Being reminded of this past is not a bad thing or something we should feel the need to hide. Of course it's embarrassing, but that is no reason to stray from truth. We are not a perfect country, so there will always be racial disputes and this is something that we can remind ourselves of in order to educate and learn from.
The 30 for 30 “The Ghosts of Ole Miss Past” portrayed the effect that sports has on racism and social movements, and vice versa. It demonstrated how people look to sports when everything around them is changing, whether they are in favor of it or not. It showed how much sports can change and also be impacted by society. When James Meredith was enrolled at Ole Miss, massive riots broke out, leaving damages, injuries, and fatalities. The prized football team, however, did not engage in the riots. They did not create a stand against Meredith and integration, or go on strike. Instead, they took the school’s new negative image and used it as motivation to have one of the best seasons in program history. This is a prime example of the sports world combating racism in society. Everyone thinks of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball, but that was just one example. The Ole Miss football team brought Ole Miss through a time where there was serious consideration of closing down the university, to a time of celebration and success. This is a fair expectation to put on the sports world, because it is constantly adapting to the public. As people became more politically correct, Ole Miss had to change. Its mascot of a plantation owner had to be changed to a black bear to accommodate society’s opinions on what is okay and what is not okay. The sporting world is constantly changing, and it can also lead change, and it should. In the film, the players from the undefeated Ole Miss football team were upset that the program and school could not move on from the horrific images of the Meredith integration riots. This is a cost of acknowledging our past. What’s done is done, and what’s more important is how society has responded. That issue has seen great progress, and there is nothing that can be done about what happened back then. However, ignoring the past may bring even worse consequences. We can learn from the past and use it as a way to make more educated decisions in the present and future. Although terrific riots may be an extreme case, it goes to show how to react to massive social change, and, more importantly, how not to react. If the integration of Ole Miss stays on everyone’s mind, future drastic social changes may happen more seamlessly with less damages.
I think that different sports bring out certain demographics of people based off of popularity within a certain region, the drive of the person or team, and the money the sport is provided. Because of these three factors, I think the amount of integration in certain sports varies drastically. As shown in the "30 for 30," problems that occur with integration would be the altercations between different races, riots and anger, and the lack of humanizing people of a different race. I think that similar issues arose with the integration of sports but because it was in a controlled environment, I think that it was dealt with significantly better. Because players were forced to interact with player of another race, it helped athletes become more accepting of race. I think this acceptance of race had an affect on the rest of society because of the influence sports has on society. Racial inequalities still impacts the sports world today. According to the United States Census, black people are twice as likely to live in poverty as white people. Because of this, it makes it more unlikely that people of a certain race are capable of participating in a sport. This makes it more difficult to find black golfers or skiers because of the necessary expenses that it takes to play these sports. While this segregation is unintentional, it still exists. These financial differences gives people of another race unfair disadvantages because it gives white people more opportunity to do things like get into a school, or make money on a professional level. Racism will not be able to end in sports though. As said in the article "Controversy Over Mascots at Ole Miss," Confederate flags can still be flown in the stadium at Ole Miss. Sports are just a microcosm of society. There will always be a few bad apples like Richie Incognito but that does not mean that all football players are racist just like all white people are not racist. Asking for sports to end racism worldwide is asking way too much just because sports do not mean the world to everyone. Athletes are mostly just young adults who are bound to make mistakes. Failing to acknowledge our past makes it harder to accept that not everybody is perfect and it sets things up for history to repeat itself. Acknowledging it hurts though because it taints the fact that people should be remembered by their best moments and not their worst.
After watching the 30 for 30, “Ghosts of Ole Miss,” I had a better understanding about integration in the deep south. It also opened my eyes to the fact the people like the Little Rock Nine and Jackie Robinson were only a small few of African-Americans that battled racism while they attempted to integrate society. The sports landscape in the United States at the time was full of white male. This was a clear representation to society where black men and women had no power. Athletes throughout American history have created platforms for social change. As it said in the documentary, the players were some of the poorest kids from small farming towns but when they played none of that mattered. Similarly, when Jackie Robinson was given a chance, people realized that their perceptions that African-Americans were not able to perform as well were wrong. This lead them to rethink not only their perceptions of athletes but all African-Americans. In today’s world, I believe that there are still racial inequalities because of the perception that African Americans are less intelligent than white athletes like we read in “Segregation in Sports.” By acknowledging our past we can more quickly realize our misconception and correct it so we don’t have to regret our actions later like Buck Randall.
In ESPN’s 30 for 30 in “Ghosts of Ole Miss, the racial integration issue of the Southern United States was explored and explained. The main issue that came into to play that was analyzed and talked about was the possible admission of African American student, James Meredith, into the university of Mississippi. With Mississippi being in the deep south, and the history of racism in the south, you can imagine how that was going to go. With Meredith’s enrollment, almost everything went downhill from there except for one thing: the Ole Miss football team. With the admittance of Meredith, riots occurred all over campus and even at the halftime of football games. Meredith couldn’t attend the games due to how unsafe he felt during them The all white football team at Ole Miss became a crucial part of the integration who had its best season in 1962. The football team both helped and hindered the racism issue. The football games were times when the confederate flag was still waved and the song Dixie was sang as the anthem for the confederacy. These two things both promoted racism and not what was going to stood for. Buck Randall, one of the football players on Ole Miss, recognized the very poor, unequal treatment of the african american community and was an advocate for equal treatment. Randall did not want to be in the film due to the difficult actions taken in the past. Although this issue was one that occurred many years ago, it has not completely died out today. There is still controversy over mascots at Ole Miss. Dedicated colonel reb fans are not giving in to the new mascot of the rebel black bear. They still protested in 2010 to try to get the mascot reversed. I think the cost of failing to acknowledge the past is that there is the potential for no change to occur and for our society to not progress. If we didnt acknowledge the extremely poor treatment of African Americas in the past, theres no way that today African Americans would have the same rights as white american citizens. I personally don’t think there is much racism in sports today. I think African Americans and white americans have equal opportunity to play and participate and succeed in sports. in the NFL, nearly 70% of players are African American. Im sure there is some sort of racism in today’s sports world, however I don’t think it is very prevalent.
Racial tensions have existed in America’s culture since the birth of the country. The documentary, The Ghosts of Ole Miss, successfully addressed how racial inequalities existing in the sports world reflected the racial landscape of the United States. The Montgomery Bus Boycott, Martin Luther King Jr’s speech, Rosa Parks’ refusal to get out of her seat were some of the necessary factors which led to racial equality in America. When Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier it ignited a movement that accepted African Americans in sports and eventually in society. Riots broke out on the campus of Ole Miss because James Meredith would be the first African-American enrolled at the University which led to the football team’s undefeated season. Sports has played a vital role in the advancement of civil rights, just as much as the events listed before because sports fans respect and idolize athletes. As Americans were starting to accept African American athletes, they began to start accepting African Americans in society. The sports world oftentimes is viewed as our “escape” from reality because it’s entertainment, and as African Americans were becoming a significant part of the sporting world, people would begin to accept them into society. Also, sports is a unique environment because they can capture the attention of an entire country. Before Robinson’s Major League Baseball (MLB) debut, baseball was divided between the “superior” all-white major leagues and the “inferior” African American leagues. Essentially, it mirrored American society. At first, it was difficult for Robinson to overcome discrimination, but once he began playing, everyone, even the people who hurt him, were cheering for Robinson. To change the mascot at Ole Miss because the former mascot was suggestive of racist ideologies is an acceptable action. Even though Ole Miss had this mascot for many years, people going to a school should not feel threatened because of the school’s mascot. By changing the mascot, this allows Ole Miss to strive towards racial equality in society through the use of sports. I am not concerned that the replacement of the mascot may not be up to most people’s standards, as it is not an original mascot idea, but more concerned that it is suggestive of racist ideologies. “School administrators say they want to balance tolerance with tradition at Ole Miss (itself a nickname for a slave owner’s wife). The school has discouraged Confederate battle flags at football games, discontinued “Dixie” as the unofficial fight song and raised enrollment of black students to 14 percent, from 5.8 percent in 1995 (though Mississippi is nearly 40 percent black),” Robbie Brown wrote in “Controversy Over Mascots at Ole Miss.” It is clear that Ole Miss is striving to create racial equality throughout their school, and in order to achieve this objective racial equality must exist in all aspects of the school, including sports.
Throughout the 30 for 30 film The Ghosts of Ole Miss, I learned that the connection between sports and race is very strong. Throughout the film, Ole Miss was just being torn apart from all of the negativity it got when they let James Meredith enrolled into their school. When this was going on, nobody thought that the football team would do well, but they proved them wrong. The football team's success brought the entire community together and for a brief moment in time everyone could forget about the rough times they are in. It was a real shame that even though the football team accomplished amazing things in the 1962 season, it did not do enough to clear Old Miss' racist reputation. Today, it is very important that we can look back on the past and correct our mistakes. In "Controversy Over Mascots at Ole Miss", they changed the Mascot to a black bear. A group of alumni from Ole Miss strongly disagree with the new mascot and want the old white farmer to stay. The group of alumni does not care about the past which is a big issue because that mascot has a very strong connotation to being racist and represents the bad times that they have tried to escape. If they want to clear their name, then they are going to need to change to the bear so that they can move on and finish changing their past. Although they are learning from their mistakes from the past, if they stay too caught up in the past, then they will never move forward.
Sports mirror society. I remember writing that the University of Mississippi should not adjust its’ practices at sporting events. I commented that Ole Miss’ Senior Hannah Loy makes a very strong argument in favor of letting the student section chant, “The South will rise again.” She says that her generation defines that saying differently, and that to her it means more about the South overcoming racism and other epidemics, rather than a chant implying that slavery is going to return. Christian McWhirther writes in The New York Times about the song “Dixie:” Despite these efforts and the continued protestations of some Southerners… 150 years of history have loaded the song with indelible political, racial, military and social connotations. For better or for worse, “Dixie” was the South’s anthem, and will most likely remain so for generations. People redefine the things that surround them. Yes everything comes with a loaded history but society shifts and so can the meanings of the catchy things they sing and chant. People still think REM’s song “This One Goes Out” is a catchy tune about love, when it’s a mean and sarcastic song. They want it to be about love because the word is said. Green Day’s “The Time of Your Life” is a mean and sarcastic song about a breakup and everyone swears it’s sweet and straightforward. Rappers can co-opt and use the N-word to change its meaning and remove its sting. Words shift. Things are fat and sick now, which are both good things. My point is that people believe what they are going to believe and that they love a catchy tune or “cool” sounding word or phrase. If the kids think the chant is positive, I think we can believe them. Americans love their athletes and sports do so much for breaking racial barriers.
After watching the 30 for 30 "The ghosts of Ole Miss" I got insight on a very significant event in US history. Ole Miss in Mississippi was a center of race and the extreme events that needed to occur just to ensure equality was shocking. Integrating races is in no way easy. However, requiring a military should in no way be needed. Especially considering this occurred at a college. young people are thought to be more in favor of equal rights when compared to older people. The whole integration process was the center of attention even covering up the fact that Ole Miss had an undefeated record in football. The hardest part of about integration of races is getting people to forget the preconceived ideas. Many of the people at ole miss had the idea that black people were less than them and deserved less. Getting people to let go of this idea can only be done in time. I personally believe that sports can be one of the best ways to combat racism. I can't think of a better way to show that we are equal no matter what race we are. Something as simple as one black baseball player can open a road to so many other black baseball players by showing that they compete at the same level. With the amount of racism associated with the old school it is no surprised that the old mascot was replaced. I t is no surprised that a "a white-goateed, cane-toting Southern plantation owner" could be racist. I think this change is best overall for the school and choosing the bear is away to avoid race overall. It puts away previous ideas about the school and only help it.
After watching the ESPN 30 for 30 “Ghosts of Ole Miss,” it really opened up my perspective of racism in the history of sports. We all know the story of Jackie Robinson and how he conquered racism in baseball, but this story about a school in the deep south during a time of segregation gave me lots of insight about the subject. Initially, the sports landscape in the United States was completely dominated by white males. Not just football, but every sport in the country. This landscape in the sports world was really a model of the entire country in fact. People of color during this time period were clearly segregated by white people all around the country. It was the norm. However, when James Meredith was enrolled into Ole Miss University, President Kennedy sent a message to the entire country that racial segregation would not be tolerated anymore. Not only did racial interaction have an impact on the country, who rioted violently, it had an impact on the sports world as well. Admitting James Meredith into Ole Miss University fueled the football team to an undefeated season, and a historic one too. Looking back on the chaos and adversity that occurred during the shift in culture, it is very important that we acknowledge our past. According to the article “Controversy over mascots at Ole Miss,” the school has “discouraged Confederate battle flags at football games, discontinued “Dixie” as the unofficial fight song and raised enrollment of black students to 14 percent.” Ole Miss has made sure to continue their tradition, but has acknowledged that in today’s society, some of what used to be done in the past is unacceptable today. Overall, the documentary helped me realize that racism in sports was such a bigger problem than I thought it was, and thoroughly explained how the sports landscape and the racial landscape of our country work together.
ReplyDeleteIn the 30 for 30 Ghosts of Ole Miss, the topic of integration in southern universities is explored throughout the course of the documentary. Now obviously, the integration of the schools was a very slow and tough process for the federal government, as it took many years for schools in the U.S. to get fully integrated. In the film, a student by the name of James Meredith was attempting to get admitted to the school and he met harsh resistance from the student body, and even the government of Mississippi. In order to get him in the school, the president of the United States had to use the army to admit him to the school. At the lowest point, there was a riot where no black men were involved just to show that the students didn’t want a black person at their university. All James Meredith wanted was to be a student, to a part of something, but that was taken from him. People refused to accept the integration and so many people were hurt. As a result, Mississippi was viewed as a bad place and it hurt their rankings in the AP polls even though they were undefeated. In a time of terror for the University, the football team united and showed that they were one, because of the perfect season that Ole Miss had, the football was able to show that Mississippi was a good place and that they wouldn’t let the anti integration pull them down. The Documentary did a good job of showing the controversy that occurred at the university during the time of integration and it brought up the question: What impact did integrated sports have on the country? Well as a whole, it showed that black and white people could be together, that they didn’t need to be separate. While some people still refuse to accept what happened in the south Both the integration of Ole Miss and sports as a whole, showed that integration was possible, that black and white people could be together, and that neither was superior to the other.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the 30 for 30 The Ghosts of Ole Miss, I learned a lot about the history of racism at Ole Miss and the history of racism in the country as a whole. The first thing that came to mind was why hadn’t I heard about what happened? A major cost of failing to acknowledge our past is that many people aren’t aware of how terribly African American students were treated at Ole Miss. However, a major cost of acknowledging our past is that it can be really offensive to some people. For example in the documentary, Buck Randall a former Ole Miss football player refused to be in the film because he did not want to acknowledge his past. He was afraid of hurting people and afraid of being hurt by others because of what he did in his past. Another example occurred when Ole Miss switched their mascot from Colonel Reb the Rebel Black Bear. The school was acknowledging their past but this made many people angry. They were upset that the school was so worried about being politically correct and they didn’t like that their years of tradition were being changed because of this. This again shows that when people acknowledge their past it makes many others unhappy. There were many problems that occurred during the integration process at Ole Miss. There were violent riots, chants saying, “The South Will Rise Again”, school dropouts, and overall intolerance. The riots around the school injured and even killed students, the African American students were not shown any respect or given any of the same resources as the other students and as a form of petition, Ole Miss lost many students and fans. There is still general disrespect towards African Americans, especially in the south, however we are making big improvements thanks to schools in the past going against social norms and starting the integration process.
ReplyDeleteSports play an integral role in the racial landscape of America and history has proven that black athletes have pioneered the way to equality. Jackie Robinson, perhaps the most famous black baseball player and athlete of all time, broke baseball’s color barrier 15 years before Martin Luther King Jr. marched on Washington, eight years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat. While MLK and Parks fought for political and societal rights, Robinson and every other trailblazing black athlete fought for hope and opportunities. Sport is used as an escape from real life, a chance for people of all ages, colors, and backgrounds to come together whether they are watching or playing. As stated in “Ghosts of Ole Miss,” the people of Mississippi may have ranked last in the country for income, however they could matchup against anyone on the gridiron. Sports can be the ultimate equalizer because the skills needed to succeed in them are available to anyone who puts in the effort; Speed and strength do not discriminate. In fact, I think that it was due to sports and the likes of Jackie Robinson that society began to accept blacks of off the field. When professional sports became integrated and people began to see that black athletes could perform just as well, if not better than whites, society realized that their perception of blacks were wrong; they were equal all along. I do not believe that sports or society have either reached complete integration for similar reasons. As we read in the article “Segregation in Sports,” there is still a belief that black athletes are not as intelligent as whites and that they are incapable of being in high-pressured positions such as pitcher or quarterback. This idea resonates with the fact that when Barack Obama was first running for president and even after he was elected, much of the country doubted his abilities due to the color of his skin. In my mind, the documentary shows that the biggest factor during the integration process was fear. All of the harmful demonstrations depicted show that the people of Mississippi were afraid to let go of their hateful past and accept the inevitable future. In my mind, the craziest part of the entire story is how the governor of Mississippi continually refused the demands of the president. This represents the ignorance and stubbornness of the Confederate ideals displayed.
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ReplyDeleteAfter watching the 30 for 30 “Ghosts of Ole Miss,” it made me have a very different perspective of racism in the history of all sports. One thing that really stood out to me was the racism in the country and how it really had a big impact on people’s lives. People are not aware of how upsetting, or discouraging it can make someone feel. African American students were treated terribly at Ole Miss, as if they were looked at differently due to their skin color. For example, Buck Randall who was a former football player at Ole Miss did everything to not be in the film since he didn't want to remember his past or ever think about it. Randall did not want to hurt anyone and he was afraid of being hurt by others due to what he has done in the past and the damage it has given him. He will always have that stuck with him. Also, during the documentary, another example was when Ole Miss switched their mascot from Colonel Reb the Rebel Black bear. All the school was doing was romanizing on their past and people were getting more and more angry at them. The whole school was upset and anxious about being correct and they did not like that their years of having one tradition that they do every year, be changed because of just one thing. I believe that when people acknowledge their past it makes many other people unhappy about a situation.
ReplyDeleteMany problems occurred also in the film during the integration process at Ole Miss. Additionally, an example of that is having the violent chants saying “The South Will Rise Again”, school dropouts, and also the bigotry. The riots caused so much depression due to them injuring, killing, and harassing students, the african students were not given any respect or treated the same as other students which caused for more of an awful situation. Due to this all happening, Ole Miss lost so many students, fans, and supporters since this depressing issue. Even today people show signs of disrespect towards many of the African Americans. But an upside is that we are making more and more improvements due to schools in the past trying to start the process and make things better.
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ReplyDeleteAfter watching “The Ghosts of Ole Miss”, I do believe the sporting world can combat the racism seen in our society. When the Battle of Oxford concluded, the students and faculty at the University of Mississippi were divided, afraid, and overwhelmed. It appeared that the issue of integration would haunt of Ole Miss for years to come as James Meredith, the African-American who was at the center of the controversy, was still being bombarded with words of hatred and disgust. However, as the Ole Miss football team continued their quest for a perfect season, the attention of the fans, faculty, and students became more geared towards the football program rather than the enrollment of James Meredith. This allowed the university to move past their issues with integration, which slowly healed the wounds caused by the riot. While there was definitely still racism present at the university after the football team’s perfect season came to an end, Ole Miss athletics took another step towards preventing racism by changing their mascot to the Rebel Black Bear. The original mascot was Colonel Reb, “a white-goateed, cane-toting Southern plantation owner that many have criticized as racist and anachronistic.” The actions by the University of Mississippi in the past and present demonstrates how the sporting world can combat racism in society. Also, I believe it is fair to expect the sporting world to combat racism because few industries have the platform that the sports world has. In fact, many athletes do use their platform to speak against racism. At the 2016 ESPY awards, NBA superstars Lebron James, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwayne Wade used the opening moments to promote social change after racial profiling by police officers resulted in the deaths of several African-Americans across the nation. Since athletes are the role models of many young adults and children, it is necessary for athletes to combat racism seen in our society.
ReplyDeleteWhen James Meredith enrolled at Ole Miss, there were many problems that took place during the integration process. On the campus, students and staff rioted leaving two dead, hundreds wounded, and many arrested. The Kennedy administration called for National Guardsmen and other federal forces to get involved. People were protesting the enrollment of an African American man into a completely white school. However, while this was going on the University of Mississippi football team, was in the making of a historic undefeated season.
ReplyDeleteNearly the entire country watches sports and the people that play sports are real people. Meaning they aren’t a made up character from a movie or TV show and while some athletes may act differently in front of cameras, for the most part people can relate to some of these athletes. Also, fans are very dedicated to their team. I remember talking about how during the Olympics many Americans put aside the athlete’s skin color, gender, or sexuality in order to cheer for the United States to win. Americans wanted the US to be the best of all countries in the Olympics, so they did not really care about what the athlete looked like. I believe sports is an amazing stage to advocate for social change and equality in the country. For example, Colin Kaepernick and the US women’s soccer team have showed their fans and the media that what is going on in the world is wrong.
Of course there are still racial inequalities that exist in sports, they exist out of sports too. There is racial discrimination in sports and over/under representation of different races in different sports. For example, the NBA is mostly African American men, but the MLB is mostly white males. And of course there are still debates over the Native American names and imagery for sports teams such as the Cleveland Indians and the Washington Redskins. I believe changing the Ole Miss mascot was the right thing to do. While I understand that some Ole Miss fans may be frustrated with the change because Colonel Reb was a tradition for such a long time. I do believe that as we make advances in society including integration in not only sports, but also schools, it is important to make everyone feel comfortable not only in their own skin, but in society. Colonel Reb was a white male who owned a plantation in the south that was criticized as being racist. In my opinion, I don't think any picture of a white male means that they enslaved someone, but this specific mascot was used in a time when African American males picked cotton for little to no pay. I’m not a hundred percent sure that the black bear that is actually brown was the right mascot to change it to, but I do not think it should be up to Ole Miss alumni. I believe the current students at Ole Miss should be able to pick without anyone else breathing down the back of their necks. Times have changed.
The 30 for 30 documentary The Ghosts of Ole Miss perfectly depicted how the integration process in sports was both difficult and troubling for schools and universities that existed in the south. During the integration process those in the federal government we not in-touch or in-tune with how state representatives and governors felt during that time period. When the order was given to have James Meredith integrated into Ole Miss the governor refused causing immediate backlash and outrage from the White House. This act of explicit incompetence was one of the sparks that started the Riot of 1962 on the Ole Miss campus. Since the rep from the state believed that it was ok to defy the White House than the students felt the same way. The way that certain schools were integrated is strikingly similar to the way that certain sports are integrated. When running and track were integrated and Jesse Owens represented the US as the main olympic athlete competing in the Berlin games, German dictator adolf hitler was not in favor. Following Owens’ huge win to receive the Gold Medal for the US, hitler refused to shake his hand. Instead of respecting a man for his athletic accomplishments and superiority, hitler chose to let his color define the person that he is. This was the attitude of the south during that time. Instead of respecting someone for the skillset that they possess (whatever it may be: athletic or academic) they judge and discriminate against them. Throughout time there has been many racial inequalities in sports ranging from offensive mascots to blatant segregation. All the way up to the year 2010 the Ole Miss mascot was Colonel Rub, a southern plantation owner. The meaning behind this mascot is more than racially insensitive but also politically incorrect and the fact that it was changed just recently equates to a lack of urgency to redefine the school from its previous racial issues. Other mascot issues include organizations such as the Washington Redskins and the Florida State Seminoles in which both team/school include a mascot that is of indian origin. There has been huge controversy surrounding these mascots for years because the indian community do not appreciate them being the face of public organizations with no ties back to their culture.
ReplyDeleteThe 30 for 30, The Ghost of Ole Miss portrayed the effects of integration on colleges in the south and their sports teams. One of the main problems shown in the film was the communities stubbornness and inability to let go of their hate. With a state’s governor leading the charge against James Meredith’s enrollment at Ole Miss, the state will respond in the same manner. The film showed the aggression that the Ole Miss students showed against Meredith and the government for allowing him to enroll. College students are just beginning to feel the freedom of their rights and with that comes the need to express their opinions. This allowed for the situation to escalate so quickly and violently.
ReplyDeleteThe film ended with the college in present day and showed the progress that the community has made. Although, there are now many african american students on campus and on the sports teams, there is still much more to be made. With interviews of the football players on the team at the time, the film was able to not only gain credibility on the matter, but also get an insight into how the football team was affected and how it still is. Acknowledging the past for the way it took place was difficult for the players, because they would like that time to be remembered as the “dream team” and not the year Ole Miss fell apart. By acknowledging the events that took place, the film was able to show the underlying issues and uncover the truth about Ole Miss and the racism that took place.
“Ghosts of Ole Miss” showed me just how big of an impact sports have in society, and how in many scenarios sports reflect society and have helped our world through tough controversy. One subject that would be categorized under “tough controversy” is segregation, and that’s exactly what this 30 for 30 touched upon. One of the biggest turning points in sports history was
ReplyDeleteJackie Robinson and the barrier he broke in baseball. This did not only break down walls in the sports industry, but also created a domino effect and impacted our society as we know it. Sports history became American history. This documentary showed the impact sports history has on a topic such as segregation. The directors keyed in on showing just how passionate people in Mississippi were about not integrating. Showing footage of riots and fights, including the army, all arguing against the integration of African Americans into the school gave me more insight into the racial landscape. Along with the numerous amounts of protests, they also showed how the white race was the majority of the sports world, emphasising football. This connects back to how sports history is world history because the white race dominating wasn’t just in sports, it was the same case around the country as well. When sports started to become more integrated, this was a eye opener to the general public. They saw how people of color could perform in athletics and matchup well against the white race in sports. This idea trickled down into society, and people started to accept the idea of integration not only in sports, but in the community as well. The landscape began to shift, people’s minds did too. As they showed in the documentary, many people they interviewed were very embarrassed looking back at their behavior towards African Americans. For example a past Ole Miss football player, Buck Randall, did not participate in the documentary as he was ashamed of his actions in the past. This shows how far society has come since the time period shown in this documentary and current day. Though I do not believe we have 100% ended segregation, I do know we have taken giant leaps from where we were. This documentary did a good job showing the difference in the past society and today’s; and showing how sports history as effected the world’s history, especially on a topic like segregation.
Sports have really shown how far we have come in our country in terms of racial equality. Jackie Robinson played his first MLB game in 1947, and gradually over time more and more black athletes joined the MLB. Today, I would say that the majority is not white. And that is how it is at Ole Miss, besides the majority part. Over the past 50 years, Ole Miss went from not having any black people on campus to 17% of the student body being black. Next year I will be going to Elon University where 91% of the student body is white, so that shows not everywhere is becoming as adjusted as others. There will always be work to be done. During the integration process, there were a lot of fighting, riots, and many other acts of violence. Not only that, people would verbally attack incoming black students. There was a lot of resistance coming from whites to change. The fact that the army had to be brought into stop the riots at Ole Miss all because of James Meredith is ridiculous. Clearly it was a different time and different political climate, but the entire situation got way out of hand. Integration in sports was very similar to the integration events with James Meredith. I watched the movie “42”, the movie about Jackie Robinson, and I see a lot of similarities with the 30 for 30 film and “42”. For example, there were riots, people shouting racial slurs at him, and violence directed at Robinson and Meredith. Sports showed and proved to people that black people are equal to them and should be treated with respect. That concept seems so obvious and anything besides that is crazy, but even 50 years ago, it was a heavily rejected concept. As far as I am aware, there are not many inequalities in sports. I guarantee that there is some kind of inequality, but it is so rare or inconsistent that it is not talked about. Sports is a very easy way to combat racism because sports is something that every race can bond over and there is no issue with money, or where you are from, or advantages. It is just one person or team versus another, simple. Failing to acknowledge our past is not good because it is how you learn and grow. Every time you make a mistake, you see what you did wrong and better yourself from it. Acknowledging the past is hard and most people don’t like talking about anything in the past, but this especially is really hard to acknowledge. The idea that our grandparents could have been there saying those slurs or hurting those that were trying to integrate is hard to imagine. That is why we ignore it, it is hard to imagine that someone we know or knew was racist and part of the embarrassing part of our history.
ReplyDeleteMany problems came about at ole miss during the integration process. For the most part, there was a lot of change going on, and the school community was not comfortable with a lot of it. Along with the integration, there were other small changes that occurred later on in the process. One of those changes was the change of the school mascot. What was previously a white plantation owner is now a generic black bear. This caused much conflict, and it is still going on now. According to an article by the ny times, "School administrators say they want to balance tolerance with tradition at Ole Miss." While others argue that small changes like this are ruining the schools roots. Other problems occurring during the integration process were much more severe. The film described conflict as being like an additional civil war battle. Interviews were conducted in the documentary saying that national guards were being called in, and the feud got violent enough to even have caused death. The integration process also impacted the sports at ole miss. For the most part, the process was a big distraction to the athletes on the ole miss football team, as well as the fans. The players were getting too involved in the conflict, and according to the documentary were even getting physically violent in the riots. Also the team was having their best season in history. They even ended up going undefeated, however due to all of the negative stigma around the school, the team did not receive the cheers and support from america that they deserved. Another way that the integration process impacted sports at ole miss was that it made the games a lot about politics. It brought politics into the games with controversy over what aspects of the team and school were racist. For example, they banned the confederate flag, changed the mascot, and banned a song that was very traditional at ole miss football games. The games became more about protest in my eyes than it was about sports. It even went as far into politics as the towns politician spoke out against the integration of ole miss at one of the home football games. Overall I think that the integration process had some very disturbing affects on the southern community, as well as many negative affects toward sports.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the 30 for 30 “Ghosts of Ole Miss”, I saw a new light and perspective of how racism was in the past history of sports. This documentary shows a different angle of how a sports team can affect the racist view of a state. Which is different from the common story about how Jackie Robinson broke the collar barrier. This documentary goes into how it affected the school population and entire state of Mississippi. In the past, the sports world, and more specifically the sports world in the south, was entirely made up of white population. However, when James Meredith enrolled into the University of Mississippi, even though he wasn’t directly involved with the football teams, he had one of the greatest impacts on a sports world that one man could. The Mississippi football team had two paths to choose from. They could do what everyone else in the school was doing, and rejecting Meredith from their school. Or they could do what they have always done, and play football. They chose the latter. This choice fueled their team to an improbable undefeated season. This choice by the team to ignore the hatred that filled their state and focus on what really mattered to them, which was definitely not race, is a very admirable choice in that day and age.
ReplyDeleteThe article “Controversy over mascots at Ole Miss,” states that the school has strongly discouraged confederate flags at football games and has totally discontinued Dixie as its unofficial fight song. The school has also raised the enrollment of black students up to 14 percent. Being a big state university from the south, you would expect their to be a lot of tradition and conservative traditions that have stayed with the university of the years. However, Ole Miss, has decided that they are moving forward into the new progressive era. They are becoming more accepting, while also keeping some of the ideals that make Ole Miss, Ole Miss.
After watching the 30 for 30 documentary Ghost of Ole Miss I believe it really had an impact on the way people looked at racism. This documentary showed us the struggles African Americans had back then and in the south. They weren’t given the fair treatment that whites had and the ability to get the same education. As showed in the film James Meredith was one of the first black male that was able to study at Ole Miss and as a result to this opportunity, many riots broke out. People from all around came to the Ole Miss campus that didn’t belong there to join the protest. Many students were either injured or killed. In the film James Meredith stats, “If I showed no fear, that would scared the life out of everybody who thought I should be scared.” He fought for his rights and wanted to be treated equal. He was terrorized everyday and a result to this he was escorted to class by police officials so that he would not be harmed or killed. The South connected with a song, Dixie. This song “celebrates the history of savory” which would be played at football games; “The south would rise again”, was a chant that students would yell at football games towards the end of the Dixie song. I believe that this all proves that acknowledging our past would offend some people but would also make some realize the harsh behavior that went on.
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ReplyDeleteThe documentary, The Ghost of Ole Miss, and The Controversy Over Mascots at Ole Miss address the racial inequalities that exist in sports as well as the problems occurred in the integration process. In the documentary Ghost of Ole Miss the movie portrays a young African American student named James Meredith. James Meredith was a smart individual and met the requirements to be accepted into Ole miss. However Ross Barnett, the Governor at the time, decided that no school in Mississippi was allowed to be integrated. This started a big problem in the integration process since the law said all schools had to accept students of color. A battle broke out. The State of Mississippi vs The United States of America. Not only did this battle injure many people, it caused more problems than solutions. For example the fight song “Dixie” was then established to be a racist song linked to the confederacy. The thousands of confederate flags at the football games had to be taken down and so on. It was unacceptable and looked bad for a community now of not just whites, but also African Americans to be condemning racism. This in all started a big deal of problems that Ole Miss had to fix to ensure the success of the integration process. The Documentary and the Article about the Mascot addressed the racial inequalities in sports. The Ole Miss mascot is described as “a white-goateed, cane-toting Southern plantation owner that many have criticized as racist and anachronistic.” Already the inequalities for colored student athletes are seen at Ole miss. These Athletes would have to play for a mascot that signifies slavery and racism. As well these students would have to play for a crowd full of confederate supporters and for a racist fight song. This is racial inequality to the extremes. Comparing this back to my life and modern times there is definitely racial inequality in sports. One example I have encountered was on the track team. Since Westport is full of caucasians, many presume African Americans to be star runners and jumpers. This presumption of African Americans puts a lot of pressure on these athletes to attain these goals set by their fellow teammates and coaches. This in itself is an example of modern day Racial inequality and really affects athletes of color. These athletes nowadays question what life would be like to not have been born African American or to wonder what sports would be like without racial inequality. In my opinion this is very wrong and should be prevented. But the thing about these issues are that whatever we try and do to lessen and extinguish racial inequality it will never be enough to prevent it forever.
Ghosts of Ole Miss gave me a new understanding on the cost and benefit of acknowledging our past. It was clear in the 30 for 30 that Ole Miss had some pretty nasty history when it comes to race, so there is a lot that can be acknowledged, but it is a matter of if it should or shouldn't acknowledged and there are pros and cons to both sides.
ReplyDeleteIf one were to acknowledge the past of Ole Miss then it can be seen as pointlessly bringing back times of hatred, racism and segregation. Many people believe we should move on and forget the past because what good will it do if we constantly remind ourselves of a dark and terrible past especially with all of the progress made since then. Some people argue that bringing up our past will only set us further back because we will be reminding everyone of any negative past we may have had which will just cause further debate rather than focussing on only positives.
There is lots of reasoning for both sides of whether or not it is a good idea to bring up the past. The reason it's a good idea is because it is something we can talk about and look back at something and be shown how not to do something. We need to understand that we can learn from mistakes and wrongdoings and the only way to learn is to see what not to do. We can't just bury something forever and not talk about it again. As a community we should feel comfortable being able to recognize that we made mistakes and need to address them when things may seem to be going south because we have something to learn from. Do we need to be reminded of it every day? No, of course not, but there is obvious lessons to be learned from the events that occurred at Ole Miss. As stated in the article Controversy Over Mascots at Ole Miss, "former mascot, a white-goateed, cane-toting Southern plantation owner that many have criticized as racist and anachronistic." this is something we have to recognize. Today being told that a plantation owner represented a school is unfathomable, but it is a reality. The point of being reminded of this isn't because it's a common thing present day for schools to want to have racist or questionable mascots, but it is because we simply can't erase the past. It is better to be educated on topics even if they may get ugly rather than bury them for good.
The documentary focussed on an African American student attending Ole Miss at a time where there was tons of racial dispute and it caused the school to break out. Being reminded of this past is not a bad thing or something we should feel the need to hide. Of course it's embarrassing, but that is no reason to stray from truth. We are not a perfect country, so there will always be racial disputes and this is something that we can remind ourselves of in order to educate and learn from.
The 30 for 30 “The Ghosts of Ole Miss Past” portrayed the effect that sports has on racism and social movements, and vice versa. It demonstrated how people look to sports when everything around them is changing, whether they are in favor of it or not. It showed how much sports can change and also be impacted by society.
ReplyDeleteWhen James Meredith was enrolled at Ole Miss, massive riots broke out, leaving damages, injuries, and fatalities. The prized football team, however, did not engage in the riots. They did not create a stand against Meredith and integration, or go on strike. Instead, they took the school’s new negative image and used it as motivation to have one of the best seasons in program history. This is a prime example of the sports world combating racism in society. Everyone thinks of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball, but that was just one example. The Ole Miss football team brought Ole Miss through a time where there was serious consideration of closing down the university, to a time of celebration and success. This is a fair expectation to put on the sports world, because it is constantly adapting to the public. As people became more politically correct, Ole Miss had to change. Its mascot of a plantation owner had to be changed to a black bear to accommodate society’s opinions on what is okay and what is not okay. The sporting world is constantly changing, and it can also lead change, and it should.
In the film, the players from the undefeated Ole Miss football team were upset that the program and school could not move on from the horrific images of the Meredith integration riots. This is a cost of acknowledging our past. What’s done is done, and what’s more important is how society has responded. That issue has seen great progress, and there is nothing that can be done about what happened back then. However, ignoring the past may bring even worse consequences. We can learn from the past and use it as a way to make more educated decisions in the present and future. Although terrific riots may be an extreme case, it goes to show how to react to massive social change, and, more importantly, how not to react. If the integration of Ole Miss stays on everyone’s mind, future drastic social changes may happen more seamlessly with less damages.
I think that different sports bring out certain demographics of people based off of popularity within a certain region, the drive of the person or team, and the money the sport is provided. Because of these three factors, I think the amount of integration in certain sports varies drastically. As shown in the "30 for 30," problems that occur with integration would be the altercations between different races, riots and anger, and the lack of humanizing people of a different race. I think that similar issues arose with the integration of sports but because it was in a controlled environment, I think that it was dealt with significantly better. Because players were forced to interact with player of another race, it helped athletes become more accepting of race. I think this acceptance of race had an affect on the rest of society because of the influence sports has on society. Racial inequalities still impacts the sports world today. According to the United States Census, black people are twice as likely to live in poverty as white people. Because of this, it makes it more unlikely that people of a certain race are capable of participating in a sport. This makes it more difficult to find black golfers or skiers because of the necessary expenses that it takes to play these sports. While this segregation is unintentional, it still exists. These financial differences gives people of another race unfair disadvantages because it gives white people more opportunity to do things like get into a school, or make money on a professional level. Racism will not be able to end in sports though. As said in the article "Controversy Over Mascots at Ole Miss," Confederate flags can still be flown in the stadium at Ole Miss. Sports are just a microcosm of society. There will always be a few bad apples like Richie Incognito but that does not mean that all football players are racist just like all white people are not racist. Asking for sports to end racism worldwide is asking way too much just because sports do not mean the world to everyone. Athletes are mostly just young adults who are bound to make mistakes. Failing to acknowledge our past makes it harder to accept that not everybody is perfect and it sets things up for history to repeat itself. Acknowledging it hurts though because it taints the fact that people should be remembered by their best moments and not their worst.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the 30 for 30, “Ghosts of Ole Miss,” I had a better understanding about integration in the deep south. It also opened my eyes to the fact the people like the Little Rock Nine and Jackie Robinson were only a small few of African-Americans that battled racism while they attempted to integrate society. The sports landscape in the United States at the time was full of white male. This was a clear representation to society where black men and women had no power. Athletes throughout American history have created platforms for social change. As it said in the documentary, the players were some of the poorest kids from small farming towns but when they played none of that mattered. Similarly, when Jackie Robinson was given a chance, people realized that their perceptions that African-Americans were not able to perform as well were wrong. This lead them to rethink not only their perceptions of athletes but all African-Americans. In today’s world, I believe that there are still racial inequalities because of the perception that African Americans are less intelligent than white athletes like we read in “Segregation in Sports.” By acknowledging our past we can more quickly realize our misconception and correct it so we don’t have to regret our actions later like Buck Randall.
ReplyDeleteIn ESPN’s 30 for 30 in “Ghosts of Ole Miss, the racial integration issue of the Southern United States was explored and explained. The main issue that came into to play that was analyzed and talked about was the possible admission of African American student, James Meredith, into the university of Mississippi. With Mississippi being in the deep south, and the history of racism in the south, you can imagine how that was going to go. With Meredith’s enrollment, almost everything went downhill from there except for one thing: the Ole Miss football team. With the admittance of Meredith, riots occurred all over campus and even at the halftime of football games. Meredith couldn’t attend the games due to how unsafe he felt during them The all white football team at Ole Miss became a crucial part of the integration who had its best season in 1962. The football team both helped and hindered the racism issue. The football games were times when the confederate flag was still waved and the song Dixie was sang as the anthem for the confederacy. These two things both promoted racism and not what was going to stood for. Buck Randall, one of the football players on Ole Miss, recognized the very poor, unequal treatment of the african american community and was an advocate for equal treatment. Randall did not want to be in the film due to the difficult actions taken in the past. Although this issue was one that occurred many years ago, it has not completely died out today. There is still controversy over mascots at Ole Miss. Dedicated colonel reb fans are not giving in to the new mascot of the rebel black bear. They still protested in 2010 to try to get the mascot reversed. I think the cost of failing to acknowledge the past is that there is the potential for no change to occur and for our society to not progress. If we didnt acknowledge the extremely poor treatment of African Americas in the past, theres no way that today African Americans would have the same rights as white american citizens. I personally don’t think there is much racism in sports today. I think African Americans and white americans have equal opportunity to play and participate and succeed in sports. in the NFL, nearly 70% of players are African American. Im sure there is some sort of racism in today’s sports world, however I don’t think it is very prevalent.
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ReplyDeleteRacial tensions have existed in America’s culture since the birth of the country. The documentary, The Ghosts of Ole Miss, successfully addressed how racial inequalities existing in the sports world reflected the racial landscape of the United States. The Montgomery Bus Boycott, Martin Luther King Jr’s speech, Rosa Parks’ refusal to get out of her seat were some of the necessary factors which led to racial equality in America. When Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier it ignited a movement that accepted African Americans in sports and eventually in society. Riots broke out on the campus of Ole Miss because James Meredith would be the first African-American enrolled at the University which led to the football team’s undefeated season. Sports has played a vital role in the advancement of civil rights, just as much as the events listed before because sports fans respect and idolize athletes. As Americans were starting to accept African American athletes, they began to start accepting African Americans in society. The sports world oftentimes is viewed as our “escape” from reality because it’s entertainment, and as African Americans were becoming a significant part of the sporting world, people would begin to accept them into society. Also, sports is a unique environment because they can capture the attention of an entire country. Before Robinson’s Major League Baseball (MLB) debut, baseball was divided between the “superior” all-white major leagues and the “inferior” African American leagues. Essentially, it mirrored American society. At first, it was difficult for Robinson to overcome discrimination, but once he began playing, everyone, even the people who hurt him, were cheering for Robinson.
DeleteTo change the mascot at Ole Miss because the former mascot was suggestive of racist ideologies is an acceptable action. Even though Ole Miss had this mascot for many years, people going to a school should not feel threatened because of the school’s mascot. By changing the mascot, this allows Ole Miss to strive towards racial equality in society through the use of sports. I am not concerned that the replacement of the mascot may not be up to most people’s standards, as it is not an original mascot idea, but more concerned that it is suggestive of racist ideologies. “School administrators say they want to balance tolerance with tradition at Ole Miss (itself a nickname for a slave owner’s wife). The school has discouraged Confederate battle flags at football games, discontinued “Dixie” as the unofficial fight song and raised enrollment of black students to 14 percent, from 5.8 percent in 1995 (though Mississippi is nearly 40 percent black),” Robbie Brown wrote in “Controversy Over Mascots at Ole Miss.” It is clear that Ole Miss is striving to create racial equality throughout their school, and in order to achieve this objective racial equality must exist in all aspects of the school, including sports.
Throughout the 30 for 30 film The Ghosts of Ole Miss, I learned that the connection between sports and race is very strong. Throughout the film, Ole Miss was just being torn apart from all of the negativity it got when they let James Meredith enrolled into their school. When this was going on, nobody thought that the football team would do well, but they proved them wrong. The football team's success brought the entire community together and for a brief moment in time everyone could forget about the rough times they are in. It was a real shame that even though the football team accomplished amazing things in the 1962 season, it did not do enough to clear Old Miss' racist reputation. Today, it is very important that we can look back on the past and correct our mistakes. In "Controversy Over Mascots at Ole Miss", they changed the Mascot to a black bear. A group of alumni from Ole Miss strongly disagree with the new mascot and want the old white farmer to stay. The group of alumni does not care about the past which is a big issue because that mascot has a very strong connotation to being racist and represents the bad times that they have tried to escape. If they want to clear their name, then they are going to need to change to the bear so that they can move on and finish changing their past. Although they are learning from their mistakes from the past, if they stay too caught up in the past, then they will never move forward.
ReplyDeleteSports mirror society. I remember writing that the University of Mississippi should not adjust its’ practices at sporting events. I commented that Ole Miss’ Senior Hannah Loy makes a very strong argument in favor of letting the student section chant, “The South will rise again.” She says that her generation defines that saying differently, and that to her it means more about the South overcoming racism and other epidemics, rather than a chant implying that slavery is going to return.
ReplyDeleteChristian McWhirther writes in The New York Times about the song “Dixie:”
Despite these efforts and the continued protestations of some Southerners… 150 years of history have loaded the song with indelible political, racial, military and social connotations. For better or for worse, “Dixie” was the South’s anthem, and will most likely remain so for generations.
People redefine the things that surround them. Yes everything comes with a loaded history but society shifts and so can the meanings of the catchy things they sing and chant. People still think REM’s song “This One Goes Out” is a catchy tune about love, when it’s a mean and sarcastic song. They want it to be about love because the word is said. Green Day’s “The Time of Your Life” is a mean and sarcastic song about a breakup and everyone swears it’s sweet and straightforward. Rappers can co-opt and use the N-word to change its meaning and remove its sting. Words shift. Things are fat and sick now, which are both good things.
My point is that people believe what they are going to believe and that they love a catchy tune or “cool” sounding word or phrase. If the kids think the chant is positive, I think we can believe them. Americans love their athletes and sports do so much for breaking racial barriers.
After watching the 30 for 30 "The ghosts of Ole Miss" I got insight on a very significant event in US history. Ole Miss in Mississippi was a center of race and the extreme events that needed to occur just to ensure equality was shocking. Integrating races is in no way easy. However, requiring a military should in no way be needed. Especially considering this occurred at a college. young people are thought to be more in favor of equal rights when compared to older people. The whole integration process was the center of attention even covering up the fact that Ole Miss had an undefeated record in football. The hardest part of about integration of races is getting people to forget the preconceived ideas. Many of the people at ole miss had the idea that black people were less than them and deserved less. Getting people to let go of this idea can only be done in time. I personally believe that sports can be one of the best ways to combat racism. I can't think of a better way to show that we are equal no matter what race we are. Something as simple as one black baseball player can open a road to so many other black baseball players by showing that they compete at the same level. With the amount of racism associated with the old school it is no surprised that the old mascot was replaced. I t is no surprised that a "a white-goateed, cane-toting Southern plantation owner" could be racist. I think this change is best overall for the school and choosing the bear is away to avoid race overall. It puts away previous ideas about the school and only help it.
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