Admiral Ackbar, Really?

At Ole Miss, a campaign is underway to select “Admiral Ackbar,” a space alien from Star Wars, as the new school mascot. There are several Facebook groups promoting this absurd idea: “Ackbar Olemiss” has 2,416 fans, “Ole Miss Rebel Alliance” has 3,602 fans, “Admiral Ackbar for Ole Miss Mascot” has 5,678 fans. These are the largest groups I have found. A couple of smaller groups with a few hundred members exist.

Ackbar seems to have a lot of out-of-state fans. The “Rebel Alliance” campaign has tapped into a huge well of support in the American sci-fi community. Northern liberals who write for major newspapers love the idea of Ole Miss shedding its “racist” heritage. These are generally not the people who religiously follow SEC football. I never knew anyone at the University of Alabama who was offended by Colonel Reb when the Rebels came to Tuscaloosa. Everyone I have spoken to back home hates this sort of political correctness.

TMZ is reporting that a backlash has erupted on campus. Disgruntled Ole Miss students are threatening to transfer if Ackbar becomes the new mascot. The groups pushing Ackbar have received a number of angry calls and emails. The parents of current and prospective students are threatening to send their kids to other colleges. This writer has been contacted by angry Ole Miss students and encouraged to press the issue.

I can’t imagine Ole Miss alumni are pleased with this idea. What does “Admiral Ackbar,” a fictional alien from Star Wars, have to do with Mississippi or Ole Miss tradition? The best part of being an alumnus is carrying on the tradition of a storied institution. It means continuity with previous and future generations. That is exactly what Ackbar supporters are proposing to jettison here.

Zennie Abraham of the San Francisco Chronicle is denying the existence of a backlash. Apparently, Mr. Abraham (a Star Trek fanatic) hasn’t been following the opposition groups on Facebook. “Colonel Reb” has 4,514 fans. The Colonel Reb Foundation, SaveOleMiss.com, has 9,825 fans. In 2003, 94% of Ole Miss students voted to keep Colonel Reb on the field, but that option wasn’t on the recent ballot. Colonel Reb has far more supporters than “Admiral Ackbar” . . . and most of them are actually from Mississippi!

History has shown that appeasement doesn’t work. Leftists went after the Confederate flag at Ole Miss football games. Then Colonel Reb was forced into retirement. But that wasn’t good enough. So Dixie and “The South will rise again” had to be banned at football games. Now “Admiral Ackbar” is being pushed as the new mascot. A few years from now, the same agitators (although they deny this) will be demanding that Ole Miss rename the football team, as the term “Rebels” can be construed as another politically incorrect reminder of the Confederacy.

Should Jackson, MS be renamed as well? President Andrew Jackson was a slave owner who ethnically cleansed the Choctaw Indians from Mississippi. How many cities and counties in Mississippi are named after white racists? How many of those towns are graced by Confederate monuments in town squares? The list goes on and on. A dangerous precedent has been set here. It could one day lead to a Soviet Union style cleansing of Mississippi place names and historic markers.

We are already sliding down that slippery slope. If we don’t start fighting back, the Iron Curtain of political correctness will continue to smother our Southern heritage.

Youth for Western Civilization, Wednesday, March 3, 2010