University Of Mississippi Racism Research Paper

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Racism at the University of Mississippi: a Social Psychology Solution The University of Mississippi is known for it’s football, parties, greek life, and racism. In the past two years the school has taken major steps to reducing outward racism in the school by deciding not to fly the state flag which has the Confederate flag on its left corner and by banning the song “Dixie” from football games. Though these actions have reduced the blatant racism seen by the external population, racism is still thriving within the student body. Prejudices have not been lessened by these administrative decisions, and if anything they have been increased. There have been several studies in social psychology that offer many different solutions to the problem …show more content…
One of these would be to organize a philanthropy event that involved the Interfraternity Council, the National Pan-Hellenic Council, and the Panhellenic Council. Ole Miss has a huge greek life and if greek life was less discriminatory, the campus would in turn be more inclusive. The American Psychological Association says that “groups that integrate talents, experience, backgrounds, and perspectives are more likely [to be successful]” (APA). By creating a philanthropic event that incorporated all of these groups and made them work together the groups would develop a better understanding for one another. This solution would not cost anything and would give back to a good cause. Some of the problem of racism stems from separation and misunderstanding. It is not often that one of the National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations interacts with a Panhellenic Council or Interfraternity Council organization. If exposure to one another was increased understanding would increase and discrimination would decrease. A philanthropic event which increased exposure to each other and had the groups interact would be a way to help the racist environment of Ole …show more content…
A lot of discrimination and negative stereotypes come from the idea that different ethnic groups are homogenous. A study done in France by Markus Brauer and Abdelatif Er-rafiy showed that by displaying a poster depicting variety within the Arab population, prejudices in classrooms significantly decreased (STANFORD). The poster helped people understand that Arab people are a heterogeneous group such as their own ethnic group. If Ole Miss was to display a similar poster in various places around campus it is likely that prejudices in people would decrease and therefore racism would decrease. This is a simple and cost effective solution to campus wide problem. Though there is no simple solution to a largely racist student body, social psychology can offer some ideas that would help improve racial tensions. It will take a long time for total equality to be reached on campus, but there are steps that can be taken now to improve the future. Social psychologists have provided many different ways to improve situations like this and by implementing some of them the University of Mississippi may be able to change its reputation for

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