A living legend spoke to a large group of Mississippi State University students, faculty, staff and Starkville residents Wednesday night. James Meredith, the man who integrated the University of Mississippi, spoke about citizenship to the culturally diverse group that filled the Union Small Auditorium. “We received a lot of promotional materials last year from Dr. Meredith,” Paula Raffo, assistant director of student affairs, said. “The students thought this would be an interesting and educational event to bring to campus.”
“The Campus Activities Board publicized this through press releases and ads,” Patti Reiss, assistant student director said. “Because it is somewhat controversial, we hoped that it would bring out different groups. This gives us the chance to see a true picture of what life was like at that time.”
Reiss was right. The Union Small Auditorium was filled with people of all race and ages, who wanted to hear what this civil rights leader had to say. Meredith addressed the crowd with a speech titled “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”
“This new situation of the past month has enabled us to talk about what Mississippi really has been, is and will be in the future,” Meredith said.
Meredith chose not to dwell on race relations for long, but he did say he thanked God that Ole Miss students hated MSU students more than they hated him.
“Race was considered most important in Mississippi, and the defining factor in all of American history. Not so,” Meredith said. “Citizenship is most important. The goal of our founding fathers was that everyone be a full first-class citizen.”
Meredith quoted President George W. Bush by saying that “all Americans should enjoy the rights of a free people. Race is no longer a defining factor in America.”
Meredith, a Kosciusko native, was born in 1933 to a family of staunch conservatives. He served in the Air Force for nine years then applied for admission to the University of Mississippi. Filling out the application, Meredith ignored the question for race and was admitted.
When the university found out about Meredith’s race, his admission was withdrawn. He sued and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the state could not deny his admission. Again his admission was blocked by then Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett, but demonstrations began, and the state was forced to comply.
Federal marshals were ordered by then President John F. Kennedy to escort Meredith onto the Ole Miss campus.
“I had more friends than I knew what to do with. I knew the professors were racist; they taught about slavery and segregation, but I learned a lot about the Roman and British civilizations from them,” Meredith said.
In 1966 he started the Meredith Mississippi March Against Fear, which led to the development of the Black Power Movement
“There is no life if it can’t be lived,” Meredith said. “You’re dead. To not be allowed to drink water was like being dead.” Meredith firmly believes that blacks must speak proper English.
“The biggest problem that black people face is that we have never mastered proper English,” Meredith said. “To be competitive, it must be mastered.”
Many students disagreed with Meredith’s opinion saying that he was making broad generalizations about the black race.
“I think Dr. Meredith was making generalizations, but his point is valid,” student Lynn Parker said. “I do agree with him that language is the basis for advancement, but to stereotype all black people’s speech is far-fetched. I was taught to speak properly, neither black nor white English. His generalization is just not right.”
“My goal is to raise Mississippi from the bottom to the top,” Meredith explained. “Presently, the average black man in Mississippi reads and writes at the third grade level or below. My plan is to raise that level to above the fifth grade.”
In 1997 Meredith established The Meredith Institute, Inc., which teaches black Americans the importance of language. Housed in Jackson, The Meredith Institute Inc. hopes to erase black English and replace it with proper English.
“Ignorance is bliss, unless you know better,” Meredith said.