The University of Mississippi got a lot of attention for a "not-really-a-riot" riot protesting Barack Obama's re-election. That prompted even more Ole Miss students to stand up to their embarrassing campus counterparts. It was clear from the pictures and video taken Tuesday night that the offenders who burned Obama/Biden signs and shouted racial epithets were just a tiny minority of the campus population, but because it became a wider national story, other students felt compelled to respond. About 600 of them turned out for a "peace walk" on Wednesday night, holding candles as they marched across campus in a show of unity. The student newspaper also published an editorial calling Tuesday's disturbance "disgraceful" and reminding the offenders "who they represent and the responsibility they take on when they call themselves Ole Miss Rebels." 

The students who organized the response rally said the school has worked hard to change its reputation as a haven for racism, and they wanted to fight back against the handful of idiots who are ruining it for everyone else. We didn't really think it was much more than a few drunk hooligans causing trouble, but it's a nice gesture all the same.

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Dashiell Bennett