More than a month after attention was called to the controversial nature of the Student Association’s bracelets for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, the fundrasier has been called off.
Similarities between the slogan of the project, “Save the South,” and a Confederate song entitled “God, Save the South” were brought to the S.A.’s attention a day after the bracelets were ordered. While the bracelets were being sold as part of a fundraiser to help Hurricane Katrina victims, the Civil War anthem called for the restoration of slavery in the South during Reconstruction, including the lyrics, “War to the hilt, theirs be the guilt, Who fetter the free man to ransom the slave.” The song is also associated with the Ku Klux Klan.
The project, which has been cancelled, was organized by S.A. President Mike Smyth in September as a way to unify the student body in support of those who were affected by the hurricane. According to Smyth, the project made about $15,000 – all of which will be donated to United Way- before the effort was halted. There are no plans to order more bracelets or change the name of the fundraising campaign.
“It was discouraging to have to stop the effort the first time, but obviously it was for legitimate reasons,” Smyth said.
Eric C. Henry, an advisor to the Black Student Union and a senior Africana studies and philosophy, politics and law major, said that not enough thought was given to the slogan.
“I mean, when I hear a slogan like ‘Save the South’ – even if I haven’t heard it before – I think that it has to do with preserving some historic Southern ideal or ideology,” Henry said.
“I think they were well intentioned,” he said. “But the conflagration wouldn’t have arisen if they had done their research.”
Smyth said that although he was made aware of the slogan’s racist implications, he had not received any formal complaints from anybody from the BSU or other multicultural groups on campus until Monday – more than a month after an article in Pipe Dream was published about the slogan’s historical meaning.
“Because I heard no complaints from anyone, I didn’t think there was a problem leaving the initiative the way it was,” Smyth said. “Nobody contacted me. No e-mails, no phone calls, no appointments.”
Two members of the Black Student Union came to the Assembly meeting on Monday to voice their objections to the slogan and encourage the S.A. to change it four days after the campaign had been cancelled.
Andrea Dozier, the president of BSU and a junior human development major, said that while she was satisfied with the S.A.’s reaction, she is “still concerned that the S.A. only did this because they feel like it’s an issue that affects students of color, and they may not view it as an issue that affects the campus community as a whole.”
Smyth said he was sympathetic to the concerns of students who found the slogan insulting.
“I understand why they’re offended and upset, and as my constituents, I feel I needed to respond,” Smyth said.
While the “Save the South” campaign has been cancelled and the bracelets will no longer be sold, Dozier said that BSU would be brainstorming ideas and meeting with Smyth after their e-board meeting.
“Without a doubt, the matter in which a campaign is carried out is just as important as its purpose,” Dozier said.