With a pro-Confederate rally taking place nearby, a total of eight Ole Miss basketball players took a knee during the national anthem before their home game against Georgia. While at the moment, it’s unknown why the players kneeled but it’s very likely due to the on-campus rally about a mile away from the game.
For perspective, in case you're not aware, there is a pro-Confederate (whatever that is) rally on Oxford's Square today, about a mile from The Pavilion at Ole Miss, where Ole Miss is playing Georgia this afternoon.
— Neal McCready (@NealMcCready) February 23, 2019
According to ESPN, six players kneeled throughout the anthem with two others taking a knee during the final line.
Ole Miss as a school has attempted to distance itself from its past and move forward. That has included banning such things as the Confederate flag, the Colonel Reb mascot and the marching band not playing the song Dixie. According to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, nearly 100 people participated in the rally with the reason being that they were against the school for removing those things. A counter-rally was nearby to oppose the pro-Confederate rally.
Several Players from @OleMissMBB kneeling for the national anthem. pic.twitter.com/3fLNXoiFm1
— NewsWatch Ole Miss (@NewsWatch_UM) February 23, 2019
ESPN noted that when head coach Kermit Davis took the Old Miss job in March, he mentioned in his introductory press conference that he would have a team “that respects the flag and the national anthem.”
[Mississippi Clarion Ledger/ESPN/Photo: @NealMcCready]
Come on man, The problem is, that in this knee jerk culture where everyone claims to be offended by everything, we are somehow in the wrong if we do not call them out for being soft. I hate the fact that everyone can not just let shit go. Why have we raised a generation of spoiled people who think that the entire world revolves around then. This goes toward
all sides on this issue. The school for removing these things from the traditions, the protesters for not just letting go and the basketball players who are taking shit way too serious and making a mockery of themselves. I guess we really to live in a culture where it is socially acceptable to mock the national anthem over some fake dispute because you might get noticed on social media and that might make you more popular. How dumb has our culture become.
Again you are proof of my point. You could not let this go. You had to reach down to the lowest form of arguing and call me names. You assume I do not know the meanings of the word I used in my last post. Did your calling me dumb make you feel better? You do not have to answer that. I already know the answer. I am not as stupid as you claim I am