Presidential Debate at Ole Miss

Article about Klan involvement at University of Mississippi

This article interested me because it takes place on a university campus, and also because of its ties to the current presidential election. Frankly, I am surprised that race has not been more of an issue in this race. While I might not be in touch with the racial undercurrents, it seems that having the first black presidential candidate has been overshadowed by issues such as the economy and the failed bailout program and by having Sarah Palin on the Republican ticket. To me, it seemed like there was a much stronger sexist reaction to having a woman presidential candidate (at least Hillary Clinton) than a black candidate; although, I might just be more in tune to this because I am a woman.

Regardless, the prospects of having KKK show up at the debate to try to recruit members shows that they still have a presence in our society, and that racism is still present, even on university campuses. The university has come a long way since the civil unrest of the 60s, but there still appears to be some underground racial currents.

At first I thought the comment made by the editorial board to the KKK to "take our indifference as the ultimate symbol of your failure" showed that they do indeed no longer have a strong influence. But then I thought, shouldn't the response be outrage that such a group still exists, even if they pretend to "play nice"? I supposed indifference is better than actively supporting the group, but if I were black I think I would feel more than indifferent to the presence of the KKK - I would feel angry and afraid. This seems to be another case of the ignorance of white privilege speaking.

The story of Taylor was also enlightening in showing that racism still has very real effects on college campuses today. Obviously, in this situation, the white fraternity had more power than the black visitor. But I wonder if a white person visited a black fraternity party, what kind of reception would he/she get? In this case, the power might be reversed, since there is power in numbers. (This reminds me of Michael's suggestion that we all attend a black fraternity party!) Undoubtedly, racism is still a problem, and with only 14% African American students, there is still s strong majority of whites. I wonder how the situation at U of M compares to that at Kent State - would we have similar segregated parties and racial incidents that get swept under the carpet?