Racial tensions at the University of Missouri are still high. Over the past couple months, there have been a series of racist incidents on campus. Many of the students and faculty felt like the administration botched its response. They called for the school’s president to resign, which eventually occurred and the school’s chancellor ended up getting demoted.
So what happened? In the middle of September, racial slurs were yelled at a black student. A “Racism Lives Here” rally took place a week later, which was fueled by the concern that administration is not paying attention to the racism that is occurring on their campus. In the beginning of October, more racial slurs were yelled at several students at the school. The next day, students and faculty stage a sit-in against administration lack of action and racism. Two days later, the university announced that freshman will be required to undergo diversity training the beginning of January. This training will eventually be expanded to all students, faculty, and staff. At the end of October, a swastika was drawn in a dorm bathroom. Students then met with Wolfe, president of the university, to form a plan of action, but nothing was resolved.
At the beginning of the week black football players announced that they wouldn't practice or play against BYU unless the Wolfe was gone. The next day, the remainder of the team joined the boycott. If this boycott continued through the game, the school would lose $1 million dollars in profits. The next day president Tim Wolfe resigned. I find it disappointing that it took a loss of profit to be the factor for something to be done.
On Wednesday, death threats were made to black students on campus via YikYak. The people making these threats were tracked down and arrested. Students were encouraged to go to class, but would you feel comfortable doing so?
I understand that president Tim Wolfe may not have been able to shake the racism out of every individual on campus, but student should feel safe and comfortable going to class. A single individual would have never been able to eliminate the current racial divide going on at that campus, but some sort of effort would have been appreciated to ensure safety.
Throughout the week stories popped up about how the students feel being on the Mizzou campus. Media covered the issue and the protests seem to be having an effect, but this is not one that you can change overnight. Progress seems to be made though. So things are headed in the right direction, right?
Well not quite. After terrorist attacks at a Paris soccer match and serveral other areas around the city, social media again went crazy. This time from the voice of Mizzou activists complaining that this was taking away from their tragedy. More than 100 people have been pronounced dead in Paris. Because people have chosen to reach out to France and show support, those people have then been accused of not supporting the issues going on here in the United States.
And here we are spiraling in circles again. Lives matter. People should feel safe if they are walking to class across a college campus and people should feel safe when they take their family to a soccer game. Choosing to talk about one or the other doesn't mean you are taking sides. Choosing to speak your mind about both situations, also not an issue. Terrorism and racism are currently problems with this world. Taking steps to fix both and make situations better for all parties is ideal. Saying one person's suffering is worse than another's? That doesn't ever seem fair. Within the week people have been discriminated against and people have died, now what can we do to fix both?
