We need to change the way we talk about race.
Last week, the University of Missouri drew national attention when several student athletes on the football team announced that they would be going on strike until the president of the university, Tim Wolfe, resigned. This demand followed several instances of racism that were nearly ignored by the administration.
According to journalist Nicole Noren, frustration with Wolfe's manner of dealing with racist activity on campus began in September when it took him nearly a week to respond after Payton Head, the president of the Missouri Student's Association who also happens to be African-American, was racially abused while walking through the campus. Tension escalated even more in October when the university's administration downplayed several more racist occurrences on campus.
Within the first few days of November, Mizzou student Jonathan Butler embarked on a hunger strike in order to protest the administration's lack of involvement with these racist incidents. Within days, Butler gained support from students across campus including those of the football team. These events, along with demands from both Mizzou student groups as well as the Missouri legislature for Wolfe's resignation, led to his official resignation on November 9th.
However, following Wolfe's resignation, there has been a recent backlash from several white supremacists. An anonymous user on the social media app Yik Yak wrote, "I'm going to stand my ground tomorrow and shoot every black person I see." While this anonymous user was later identified as nineteen-year-old Hunter Parks, who was arrested by local police, there have been several other reports of white terrorism in the area. Journalist Reggie Noble reported that white students were riding around in trucks shouting threats at black people, white students were congregating in groups and screaming "White Power," and many black students were evacuating campus. Despite students expressing concerns for their safety on campus, Dr. Dale Brigham resigned after refusing to cancel his exam, saying that, "The only way bullies are defeated are by standing up to them."
Based off of these events, protests have sparked across the country in solidarity with the students of color at the University of Missouri, fighting against the injustices that have been bestowed upon them. As of last Thursday, as many as 20 college campuses nationwide had planned marches in order to show support for the black students at the University of Missouri.
Not to anyone's surprise, politicians and the media (after they were finished giving their opinions on the "Starbucks controversy"...hooray for priorities in America...) immediately began to weigh in on the events at the University of Missouri. While Bernie Sanders tweeted on November 11th, "I'm listening to the #BlackOnCampus conversation. It's time to address structural racism on college campuses." Trump has his own views on the racism occurring at the University of Missouri. In an interview with Fox News on Thursday morning, in regards to the protests at the university, Trump said, "I think it's disgusting. I think the two people who resigned are weak, ineffective people," and labelled the protesters' demands for change within the university system "crazy."
Speaking of Fox News, popular pundit Bill O'Reilly claimed that these, "...unruly students at "Mizzou," as it's called, are running wild." In similar regards to O'Reilly, Fox host Megyn Kelly also weighed in on the events, saying that, "In a period of roughly 72 hours, a small group of angry black students managed to force the resignation of the two highest ranking officials at that school, complaining they did not show enough concern about racial issues at the school..."
Fox News pundit Pete Hegseth asked, "Where does it end?" on a recent episode of Fox show Outnumbered. He continued, “Of course racist speech is terrible. No one supports racist hateful speech. However, we’re creating these bubbles, these cocoons, whether in Yale or here now in Missouri where [students say], ‘I can’t be harmed at all, don’t say anything that makes me feel bad.’ You wonder why people love Donald Trump? Because Donald Trump is competing against this political correctness.”
You get the idea. Right-wing politicians and media are trying to suppress people from addressing racial issues by claiming that people have "freedom of speech" and that all of the black students standing in solidarity are "angry" and "unruly."
I have a question for all of the Donald Trump's, Megyn Kelly's and Bill O'Reilly's of the world: Has your education or daily life ever been compromised by fear of your own safety because of your race?
Yes, we know that the Constitution of the United States guarantees freedom of speech. So these conservatives think a white person screaming the N-word at a group of black students is "freedom of speech?" Acts like this are pure hate speech. Megyn Kelly, if someone called you the C-word, would you simply reply, "Oh no it's totally fine! You are just exercising your God-given rights in the Constitution, my fellow beloved American!" I highly doubt it.
We live in a society where marginalized populations are labelled "overly politically correct" when they try to fight for freedom. Most of the people who deem society as "overly politically correct" are, almost 100% of the time, white people who have never had to deal with being called racial slurs, being racially discriminated against or been victims of institutionalized racism. We live in a society where the system is built for white people to succeed and when a minority speaks out, such as the students at the University of Missouri, they are labelled "angry."
The concept of being "overly politically correct" is often used as a scapegoat to sidestep the conversations about race that we need to be having in this country. It is 2015. It is absolutely unacceptable and absurd that in this day and age, people are unable to receive an education without being susceptible to racism. It makes me sad to think that when my future children read history books, they might confuse images of civil rights protests from the 1960's with the 2010's. Something needs to be done. We need to address this problem that our country is facing. It is absolutely ridiculous that a population of people should have to fear for their safety anywhere, let alone a place where they are receiving an education.
Why is it that when elementary schools ban the pledge of allegiance in their schools, all hell breaks loose, but when marginalized populations fear for their safety and freedom, they are labelled as "angry." If the pledge of allegiance is so highly revered by the same people who create these labels, do they really believe in the pledge of allegiance? Because they clearly are not supporting "liberty and justice for all."
The events at the University of Missouri are yet another reminder that it is absolutely vital that we change the way things work in this country. This begins with changing the way in which we talk about race and treating all humans with the same respect.
I acknowledge the fact that some people reading this article may disagree with me. Some may call me an overly liberal and idealistic college student. Sure, maybe my political views may swing a little left, but caring for all humans regardless of their race shouldn't be an issue that falls on the political spectrum. Addressing and eliminating racism should not be something that is associated with a political ideology, but rather something that should be engrained in our morals as humans.
