Forward Rebels? Race and Remembering the University of Mississippi's Integration, 1962-2008
Abstract
Memories and commemorations of the University of Mississippi's integration demonstrate that, throughout the past forty-six years, the administration used pragmatic strategies to portray integration and racial progress in a way that benefitted those with power at the time, while minimizing the realities of racial problems. At various commemorative events, school officials attempted to reconcile the school with the violent events of 1962, yet simultaneously create a narrative of progress. The integration's twentieth anniversary in 1982 provided the school an opportunity to commemorate the event and create a favorable public image, but criticisms from prominent African-American faculty and alumni threatened the public relations campaign. The administration pushed the message of progress instead of genuinely addressing the issues. A conflict over the creation of a civil rights memorial between 1995 and 2006 revealed that the integration's legacy remained contested and that the school's power structure had an impact on the memorial's message, because the chancellor ultimately created the monument he desired. Racial moderation became apparent during the first presidential debate in 2008 at the university. School officials attempted to reshape the school's public memory by emphasizing progress through a public relations campaign, just as 1960s racial troubleshooters used public relations to demonstrate the state's positive changes. The debate shows the power of civil rights movement memory, as well as the triumphs and shortcomings of an attempt to alter cultural memory about the university. The twentieth anniversary celebration, the creation of the James Meredith statue, and the 2008 presidential debate illustrate the continuities between the racial troubleshooting methods of the 1960s and how the university's administration discussed the issue of race at later commemorative events.