Ku Klux Klan to hold protest on Ole Miss campus on Saturday

The Mississippi White Knights of the KKK plan to hold a protest rally before the LSU-Ole MIss football game. The protest concerns the Chancellor's decision to bar the band from playing a song that causes some to shout "The South shall rise again."

According to the Commercial Appeal, the Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan are going to hold a rally before the LSU-Ole Miss football game on Saturday. The rally is scheduled for 10 a.m. in front of the Fulton Chapel before the 2:30 p.m. start of the game. The rally is in protest of Chancellor Dan Jones' decision to bar the school band from playing "From Dixie with Love," a medley that some fans finish by shouting, "The South shall rise again." The Commercial Appeal reports that Jones ordered the band on Nov. 17 to stop playing the medley that blends "Dixie," the Confederate Army's fight song, with the Union Army's "Battle Hymn of the Republic." The KKK's North Mississippi great titan, Shane Titan, was quoted as saying:

This is not a white or black issue at all. It's freedom of speech. They've got a right to say what they want at the game. I'm just going to bring a few guys, show up and get our message across and then leave.

The group, part of the Southern Alliance of Klans, claims more than 7,000 members but Titan expects between 20 and 100 Klan members to participate in a short, peaceful demonstration. In a news release from Titan's organization, the group indicated that Jones' decision was "an attack on our Southern heritage and culture." Further, the press release said: This is a direct violation of the right to freedom of speech and will only continue because a handful of people at Ole Miss want to force change on the University of Mississippi that destroy the culture and heritage on the Ole Miss campus. Ole Miss should embrace its Southern heritage and culture and reject the liberal Communist revolution that is taking place. Titan contends that his group "does not allow Nazis or Skinheads," but rather "We're Christians" he claims. The Ole Miss band has played the song at football games for about 20 years, but Chancellor Jones said the chant supports "those outside our community who would advocate a revival of segregation," reports the Commercial Appeal.