What the UM Mizzou Threats Mean for America By Allison Pinski

You may have noticed some recent articles online about the Mizzou threats against minorities on the University of Missouri campus. According to MIC:

“In just the last 90 days, the Mizzou campus has been rocked by a series of racial events that many have accused school leadership of allowing to go unexplained, under-investigated or both. In September, the student body president, Payton Head, who is black, was harassed near the campus and repeatedly called a "nigger." Eleven other students, members of the school's Legion of Black Collegians, were also called the slur by a white student, while campus security that witnessed the incident reportedly did nothing. In October, a swastika painted in human feces was found on a dorm wall.” (You can read the rest here). ​

One graduate student, Jonathon Butler, has taken to twitter to explain his anger with UM President, Tim Wolfe, and why he should resign from his position. (Note: Wolfe officially resigned November 9th).

It's time for a change y'all. Real change. #MizzouHungerStrike #ConcernedStudent1950 pic.twitter.com/QY7XjNs69o

— JB. (@_JonathanButler) November 2, 2015

Butler wrote this tweet in response to a confrontation that occurred between the group Concerned Students 1950 and Wolfe (prior to his resignation). The below video, uploaded by Concerned Students on October 16th, illustrates the confrontation.

_Social justice vlogger Kat Blaque recently shared the following screenshot to her Facebook page, depicting an e-mail sent to a professor regarding concerns over personal safety. His response is very disheartening.

Posted by Davey D Cook on Tuesday, November 10, 2015

While some faculty members have reacted insensitively to their students valid concerns, UM football coach Gary Pinkel has been praised for his response. According to the Huffington Post;

“‘My players - they’re my kids, I love those guys,’ Pinkel told reporters following the resignation of Wolfe. He said the boycott, triggered by Wolfe’s handling of several racial incidents, was an ‘extraordinary’ circumstance that made football a secondary priority.

‘They had tears in their eyes and asked if I would support them and I said I would - it’s about supporting my players when they needed me,’ Pinkel said. ‘I did the right thing and I would do it again.’” (You can read the full article here).

He also tweeted the following photo and caption to further show his support;

The Mizzou Family stands as one. We are united. We are behind our players. #ConcernedStudent1950 GP pic.twitter.com/fMHbPPTTKl

— Coach Gary Pinkel (@GaryPinkel) November 8, 2015

According to The Atlantic, Concerned Students 1950 has made demands to heighten racial awareness in the community and attempt to address the racism that plagues the UM campus. ​

(Above image from The Atlantic)

Many supporters and protesters have claimed that racism on the UM campus is far from over. Racism against minority populations isn’t exclusive to Missouri; it happens across the country. Underlying racial tensions and institutionalized racism have made it more difficult than before to address this inequality and end violence and discrimination based on race/ethnicity.

At this point, one of the best solutions to combat the incidents at UM is to support the protestors, call for the school (faculty, students, and administration) to bring more attention to the incidents and address them, and continue raising awareness of the events. With so much attention on UM and with the recent resignation of Wolfe, the administration will have no choice but undergo a thorough investigation and begin implementing measure to ensure these occurrence do not happen again.

To read up on what is happening in Mizzou, check out this article by the Huffington Post and this blog post from Progressive KC.

If you want to follow the story, I suggest following #ConcernedStudent1950 on Twitter.

NOTE: We are not affiliated with any of the articles or photos or people linked and mentioned in this post. All quotes belong to their corresponding links and are not our own.