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NEW: The whole Southern Miss football team marched out of practice to protest racial injustice.
Yet the field they play on and the M.M. Roberts Stadium around it are named for white supremacists.
Roberts boasted: "I'm a racist. ... I make no apology." https://www.mississippifreepress.org/5542/protesting-racism-usm-football-players-march-from-stadium-named-for-segregationist/
Yet the field they play on and the M.M. Roberts Stadium around it are named for white supremacists.
Roberts boasted: "I'm a racist. ... I make no apology." https://www.mississippifreepress.org/5542/protesting-racism-usm-football-players-march-from-stadium-named-for-segregationist/
"As I’ve gone along...I’ve said to myself really that I am a racist. Everytime I read a definition, I say, ‘Well, that’s me.’ I have no apology for it... It’s me," M.M. Roberts said in 1969, angering students.
5 years later, USM named its stadium for him. https://www.mississippifreepress.org/5542/protesting-racism-usm-football-players-march-from-stadium-named-for-segregationist/
5 years later, USM named its stadium for him. https://www.mississippifreepress.org/5542/protesting-racism-usm-football-players-march-from-stadium-named-for-segregationist/
USM's Carlisle-Faulkner Field is named partly for L.E. Faulkner, a Republican businessman.
A member of the segregationist Citizens Council, he spent his final years decrying civil rights and collaborating with Dixiecrats in an effort to stop integration. https://www.mississippifreepress.org/5542/protesting-racism-usm-football-players-march-from-stadium-named-for-segregationist/
A member of the segregationist Citizens Council, he spent his final years decrying civil rights and collaborating with Dixiecrats in an effort to stop integration. https://www.mississippifreepress.org/5542/protesting-racism-usm-football-players-march-from-stadium-named-for-segregationist/
M.M. Roberts used his position as IHL president to try to stop the University of Mississippi's first Black student, James Meredith, from getting the degree he'd earned.
He also created a policy designed to block Black leaders from speaking on campuses. https://www.mississippifreepress.org/5542/protesting-racism-usm-football-players-march-from-stadium-named-for-segregationist/
He also created a policy designed to block Black leaders from speaking on campuses. https://www.mississippifreepress.org/5542/protesting-racism-usm-football-players-march-from-stadium-named-for-segregationist/
"I hope he smelled like Negroes usually do," M.M. Roberts wrote in a racist screed after the MSU Young Dems won a lawsuit, allowing civil rights activist Charles Evers to speak on campus.
Black USM athletes now play in a stadium named for M.M. Roberts. https://www.mississippifreepress.org/5542/protesting-racism-usm-football-players-march-from-stadium-named-for-segregationist/
Black USM athletes now play in a stadium named for M.M. Roberts. https://www.mississippifreepress.org/5542/protesting-racism-usm-football-players-march-from-stadium-named-for-segregationist/
Until 1972, USM's mascot was General Nat, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest—a KKK founder the Klan's first grand wizard.
But three years after they ditched General Nat (see yearbook pics), USM named its stadium for a self-described "racist": https://www.mississippifreepress.org/5542/protesting-racism-usm-football-players-march-from-stadium-named-for-segregationist/
But three years after they ditched General Nat (see yearbook pics), USM named its stadium for a self-described "racist": https://www.mississippifreepress.org/5542/protesting-racism-usm-football-players-march-from-stadium-named-for-segregationist/
FYI: I'm a Southern Miss grad. Love my school. Know it can be better. History matters.
