“No matter the context, for many Americans the image of a noose is never appropriate and that’s particularly true in the South and in Mississippi,” Cohen said.
Cohen also said that Leach will meet with take part in “listening sessions with student, alumni, and community groups” and will be provided “opportunities to expand his cultural awareness of Mississippi.”
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
Mike Leach often posts strange memes on his Twitter account, but his tweet Wednesday made a lot of people upset.
The first-year Mississippi State coach tweeted out a meme regarding the coronavirus quarantine. The meme showed a black-and-white photo of a woman knitting a noose with the caption: “After 2 weeks of quarantine with her husband, Gertrude decided to knit him a scarf.”
MORE: Dr. Fauci: “We’re not even at halftime” of coronavirus battle
Leach’s own Mississippi State players seemed bothered by the tweet. Erroll Thompson, who was a team captain in 2019, responded with a thinking face emoji (before deleting it). Defensive lineman Fabien Lovett and defensive end Kobe Jones replied to Leach’s tweets with “WTF” and “he tripping.”
Margaret A. Hagerman, a professor at Mississippi State (who has since gone into a private Twitter account), explained why the tweet was troublesome.
From the Clarion-Ledger:
Leach eventually deleted the tweet and offered up an apology the next day.
She said “lynching ‘jokes’ are incredibly offensive anywhere” and “especially in Mississippi.” She also suggested that Leach delete the tweet and visit The National Memorial for Peace and Justice to learn about “this brutal history.”
This isn’t the first time Leach has drawn criticism for something he’s posted to Twitter. In February he ended up deleting tweets he sent about Mitt Romney. In 2018 he tweeted a fake video of President Barack Obama that USA Today reports cost his school $1.6 million.
