From cartoonist Clay Jones on “DSU’s latest rebrand-aid” the dark history of slavery in the real Dixie, and Dixie State University’s never-ending identity crisis.
I wish I was in the land of cotton. Old times there are not forgotten. Look away. Look away. Look away, Dixieland.
Do you know who picked cotton? Slaves. Do you know what about the old times that are not forgotten? Slavery. So why anyone wants to identify with one of the darkest elements of the history of the United States is puzzling.
It’s especially puzzling when the institution that wants to identify with Dixie is not even in Dixie.
Dixie State University is in Utah. Not the southern United States. There were 11 states in the Confederacy, and none of them were Utah. Southern Utah likes to tag itself as the “Utah’s Dixie.” Dixie State University, you are not in Dixie. Dixie is in Dixie. You’re an institution of higher learning. You have professors, calculators, books, rulers, and other learny stuff. You probably teach history. Get a map. Educate yourself on geography.
I have a friend who went to DSU. It’s weird how many Utah connections I have. She doesn’t want the name to change. I understand not wanting to change the name of something from your past. The university in my hometown of Monroe, La. changed it’s mascot and name. I didn’t mind it changing it’s mascot from the Indians to the Warhawks (most team names are generic — there are three tigers and two bulldogs in the SEC). I didn’t like it changing its name from Northeast Louisiana University to the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Why didn’t I like it? I found it more generic. There’s a University of Louisiana at Lafayette. NLU (which I’m still used to saying to refer to the university) could have just changed it to the University of Monroe or Monroe University or just left it the hell alone.
But at least there wasn’t anything to be taken as racist from it — and it’s actually in Dixie. Utah, you have a bigger problem.
In 1987, “the Rebels,” a large bronze statue of soldiers with a Confederate flag, was placed on campus. In 1993, Dixie State got rid of the Confederate flag as an official school symbol. Today, their mascot is “Big D,” who was formerly referred to as “Rodney Rebel.” Now they’re trying to find a new mascot with some of the choices surveyed being Raptors, Mustangs, Wranglers, and The Blazers — also the team name of my college, Belhaven University, which is also generic. Blazers? We’re a type of jacket?
DSU needs to take the focus off their mascot hunt and focus on getting rid of “Dixie.” You’re not in Dixie. It doesn’t make any sense. You’re Utah. You have your own identity. You don’t need to glom onto one of another region.
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://suindependent.com/cartoon-dsus-latest-rebrand-aid/&media=https://suindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/utah12202015.jpg&description=From cartoonist Clay Jones on "DSU's latest rebrand-aid" the dark history of slavery in the real Dixie, and DSU's never-ending identity crisis.){kind=link}
Maybe we should name Dixie State University Brigham Young University Southern Utah, a lot like Ricks College in Idaho is named BYU Idaho. We can call the mascot the Pioneers… Give credit where credit is due… Lets see how that goes over with those that don’t have roots here. They could even go as far as calling the mascot the Piutes, they were the first here even before the Mormon Pioneers.
Wow! A political correct A hole want us all to be politically correct too. Who would have guess?
I say ‘CLAY JONES’, (who loves the Dixie area of the state of Utah, i.e. (the southern part of the state stupid) should be crowned our PRESIDENT! And free cell phones for everybody too!
Slaves never picked cotton or anything else in Southern Utah. It’s clear from reading this article that Clay doesn’t actually know the real origin of Dixie or Utah’s Dixie.
The term Dixie is not racist at all… ten-dollar notes from the Citizens’ Bank of Louisiana had red backs printed with the French word “dix” which means “ten” in English. These bank notes were familiarly known as “dixie” notes, leading to the term “Dixieland” as these notes became widely used through the Southern States.
This kind of ignorance is a the very root of cancel culture and political correctness.
Slaves never picked cotton or anything else in Southern Utah. It’s clear from reading this article that Clay doesn’t actually know the real origin of Dixie or Utah’s Dixie.
The term Dixie is not racist at all… ten-dollar notes from the Citizens’ Bank of Louisiana had red backs printed with the French word “dix” which means “ten” in English. These bank notes were familiarly known as “dixie” notes, leading to the term “Dixieland” as these notes became widely used through the Southern States.
This kind of ignorance is at the very root of cancel culture and political correctness.