Université du Mississippi: incidents racistes sur le campus

L'Université du Mississippi accueillait son premier étudiant noir, James Meredith (photos), en 1962. Meredith était alors accompagné de troupes fédérales envoyées par Robert Kennedy. Récemment une série d'incidents racistes se sont déroulées sur le campus de l'université, deux individus attachant même un noeud autour du cou de la statue honorant le passage de James Meredith. Pourtant en 2014 l'Université du Mississippi n'a que bien de choses en commun avec ce qu'elle était en 1962...

 "University officials readily acknowledge the residual intolerance that has so often called attention back to a place where the federal authorities had to force Mr. Meredith’s enrollment. And even as administrators note their successes, they concede that they are confronting a challenge with deep and difficult roots.

 “There are some people who see this institution through the eyes of the ‘60s and forever will,” said Donald R. Cole, the university’s assistant to the chancellor for multicultural affairs.

 Professor Cole and other administrators, including Daniel W. Jones, the chancellor, contend that while Ole Miss has made considerable headway in its quest to make peace with its past, change can take hold only so quickly.

“The university has taken steps, both collectively and individually, to try to bring ourselves into the mainstream of America on thought about race,” Dr. Jones said. “If you look at how we behave and perform in most ways, we look more like other universities than we have in the past. That being said, you can’t erase the reality that the integration of this university was done in a more violent way than at other universities in the country.”

 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/us/racist-episodes-continue-to-stir-ole-miss-campus.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20140221