Ole Miss Cuts Ties With Donor Who Gave $5.3 Million To University After Racist Facebook Rant About Black Girls In Mini Dresses
Source - One of the students pictured in racist post by the University of Mississippi journalism school namesake has spoken out.
Edwin Meek, 77, the $5.3million donor behind the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at Ole Miss, shared pictures of Mahoghany Jordan and her friend Kiyona Crawford on Wednesday – alluding that their presence has led to a decline in real estate values and a decline in enrollment.
In an open letter in student newspaper, The Daily Mississippian, she wrote that neither she nor Crawford had any involvement with the ‘fights and scenes’ Meek discussed in his post.
‘However, somehow for Meek, the blame for the university’s enrollment decline and city’s decline in property value was easier to associate with two women of color as opposed to the particular demographic that has been at the forefront of the school’s most controversial moments by far. The post reeks of racist ideology as well as misogyny and is not representative of who either of us are,’ she said.
She also rejected an apology from Meek.
An online petition has also been started, demanding Meek’s name to be removed from the Ole Miss School of Journalism. So far 1,090 people have signed the petition, with a goal set at 1,500.
A seventy-seven year old white man from Mississippi is racist? Nooooo, he can’t be. Not at Ole Miss at least. I thought they had a squeaky clean record for equality and tolerance, not a deep seated history of racism and slavery. Oh well, the more you know…at least he got called out. He apologized for like three seconds on Facebook but then deleted it, so I think it’s safe to say the guy is an asshole regardless of how much money he’s donated. If the University is serious about changing its reputation they would give the money back, but they won’t.
It’s just so wild to me that he went out of his way to take pictures of these two girls, upload them to Facebook, and say they are the reason property values are declining, not the fact that he’s living in fucking Mississippi.
Mississippi is the poorest, most obese state in the entire country, a place that’s never been able to fully move past the Civil Rights Movement because they can’t afford to teach their people the difference between right and wrong. Maybe I’m reading into this too much. Maybe this is an isolated incident by an old man who thought Facebook was his personal diary, not a public forum, but probably not.
Good on these girls for standing up for themselves. If they were smart they’d go after him with a defamation case. He has the money.