“Where are you from?”
“What is Kansas City like?”
“Are there even any black people?”
“How diverse are the schools?”
I have heard all these questions and more as someone from the Kansas side of the Kansas City Missouri metro area, yes I know that sounds odd, there are two Kansas Cities, both next to one another, but on opposing sides of the state line. This relationship is…interesting and there is definitely some friendly competition. What this means for me is that I have to explain my entire existence and experiences to confused people at my school in Massachusetts. It also means that when discussing topics of race I’m not sure how to approach it. I feel that in this country there are certain views we hold about race relations, and my perspective has a hard time fitting these expectations. Most people examine race from the perspective of the South, maybe the West (California really), and the East. What gets left out of this equation is the Midwest, an area stuck in the middle, literally and figuratively. Culturally, the Midwest can sometimes be interpreted as being a cross between the East and South. It’s also its own thing with its own complex histories.
These histories are the reason why cities like St Louis and Kansas City are 47 percent and 30 percent black, respectively. Many of the public schools are overwhelmingly black and the cities have had issues with white flight. I remember being told to fear Kansas City as a child, while being told that the suburbs surrounding it were safe...and whiter. I grew up in a much more diverse suburb that boasted a population that is 20 percent black, and even we were labeled subpar in comparison to our wealthier, much whiter neighbors in the neighboring county. These numbers are not a surprise to me, but what was surprising was learning just how white Mizzou is, with only 8 percent of the population being black, and the school being 77 percent white.
This is not a natural occurrence, especially when we take into account the fact that it was built in 1839, right at the height of slavery, and the fact that it did not start admitting black students until 1950. And yet this is never discussed. We in Kansas City have a hard time having constructive conversations about race. Many of the couples seen are interracial, there are many biracial children, and oh, the Klan is operating in the area. These three things should not coexist, but they do. And so we are left with questions. Missouri has a large black population, but they are largely shut out of Mizzou and are usually likely to have gone to public underserved urban schools. On the surface everything appears to be fine in some areas, but as an insider I have seen the cracks that we attempt to hide from outsiders. We all know that if you are nonwhite, you don’t stop between Kansas City and St. Louis, you keep going.
It’s painful looking back on my past and hometown and seeing these flaws. Mizzou is only two hours away from Kansas City, and it was my brothers dream school, but it still has huge issues with race. Missouri has a legacy of slavery and racism, and sadly this won’t go away. We should be discussing what should be done, instead of what has actually occurred. As I looked at Facebook on Wednesday, all of my college friends were discussing Mizzou and other college issues, however I saw no posts from my friends at home. None of them mentioned what was going on with Mizzou, in fact I saw a few calling out the students and insulting them. This needs to stop. If we actually want to make progress, we need to acknowledge one another’s humanity and rights. And this won’t happen if we ignore these problems, burying our heads. This is a call and hopefully there will be a response to my words. To quote one of my favorite Kansas City Natives:
“I'm trying to free Kansas City” – Janelle Monae
