As we’ve marched these past few weeks, tweeted, and expressed our demands to challenge systemic racism, our actions have evoked change. Now, community sports have been impacted, starting with an NCAA ban.
Friday, the NCAA announced that it is banning the state of Mississippi championships because of the confederate state flag.
According to the Sun Herald,
“The NCAA announced that it is banning all of its championship events from being in the state as long as the Confederate emblem is included on the Mississippi state flag.
In essence– Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Miss baseball programs wouldn’t be allowed to host regionals or super regionals.
This could pose a problem because all of the aforementioned baseball teams compete regularly for the conference championships.
The NCAA stated,
“There is no place in college athletics or the world for symbols or acts of discrimination and oppression,” board chair Michael V. Drake said in a statement. “We must continually evaluate ways to protect and enhance the championship experience for college athletes. Expanding the Confederate flag policy to all championships is an important step by the NCAA to further provide a quality experience for all participants and fans.”
This comes one day after the SEC announced that conference championships or events would no longer take place if Mississippi continues to include the Confederate emblem as their state flag.
If this were to happen, the state would lose millions of dollars. Of course, they don’t want that to happen.
Mississippi Public Universities released a joint statement, “We are looking forward to a time when our state flag represents the full and rich diversity of Mississippi, a diversity that is reflected in our student-athletes, our student bodies, and the friends and fans of our athletics teams,” the statement said. “We look forward to a time when Mississippi’s state flag unites Mississippians, rather than divides us.”
The Mississippi flag has been controversial for decades. Many have called for it to be taken down- through petitions, letters, and more–but they haven’t been successful. Perhaps the flag will be removed because it is impacting sports.
We’ll keep you updated on this, Roomies!
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