Both the university and the state have an ugly history of racism that they would like to bury. But the response by one group of white male students of a fraternity to campus protests over Gaza serves to show that such attitudes are still there.
The university’s chancellor, Glenn Boyce, said that a conduct investigation had been launched into one student and more might follow in the wake of Thursday’s volatile scenes on campus. The clash occurred after a diverse group of about 30 students protesting against Israel’s war in Gaza were outnumbered by almost entirely white counter-protesters at a ratio of 10 to one, according to the Mississippi Free Press.
A video that has since gone viral showed one of the white male counter-protesters jumping up and down and making monkey noises in front of a Black woman with the pro-Palestinian protest group. Other white men then echoed the racist noises, and began chanting: “Lock her up!”
Some of the protesters were dressed in Stars and Stripes dungarees, others held aloft US and Donald Trump flags. They threw water bottles and cups at the pro-Palestinian protesters and yelled: “Who’s your daddy?”, “Take a shower”, and “Shave your legs”, among other offensive chants.
A counter-protester jumps up and down and hoots like a monkey toward a protester who was live-streaming on her phone at @OleMiss today.
Chants of “lock her up” as the Dean of Students (@marsh_brent) and multiple law enforcement agencies regain order. pic.twitter.com/fCU3hTioVL
— Stacey J. Spiehler (@StaceyJSpiehler) May 3, 2024
Needless to say, serial sex abuser Donald Trump (SSAT) approves of this revolting behavior.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, struck a different response. Invoking an acronym for his “Make American great again” slogan, the former president published a video on Instagram showing white counter-protesters waving a Trump flag and wrote: “Thank you Ole Miss – MAGA!”
He really doesn’t care what things people believe, say, or do as long as they support him.
Phi Delta Theta announced that they have expelled James “JP” Staples from their fraternity.
Apparently they will keep the dozens of his “brothers” who accompanied and cheered his public acts of bigotry. (Looks like the announcement came from the national office of the frat, not the Mississippi State chapter.)
I find a little satisfaction in knowing that the NAACP identified and doxxed him, so that every potential employer who looks up his name should find reason to hire somebody else.
Oops, U of Miss, not Miss State!
I wish I lived on that planet.
Wait -- I thought the right cared about people feeling safe on campus these days….