The students at the University of Missouri have been protesting racial discrimination in the public eye for some time now. Senior Payton Head, the president of the student body, recounted the discrimination he experienced at Mizzou via a Facebook status that served as the catalyst for this movement. Following Head’s brave display, many students started coming forward about their experiences with racism at Mizzou through social media. Unfortunately, the administration at the university did very little to address the students' concerns.
The lack of acknowledgement by the administration led Concerned Student 1950 (a student organization at Mizzou that seeks the liberation of black collegiate students) to lead a series of protests and peaceful rallies. This all came to a head when Tim Wolfe, the former university president, failed to acknowledge the incidents and seemed to ignore the efforts of Concerned Student 1950. This propelled one student, Jonathan Butler, to go on a hunger strike until Tim Wolfe agreed to resign. Other students followed Butler’s actions on November 2, and some even participated in a camp-out to support the efforts of Concerned Student 1950.
It wasn’t until the University football team joined the protests that the administration finally listened. Tim Wolfe had no choice but to step down. Immediately after his resignation, many students of color at Mizzou rejoiced and considered this a first step in the right direction. However, after Wolfe’s resignation, several students of color (black students in particular) experienced threats on social media. Students were fearing for their lives, and again, administration, faculty and staff did not take the threats seriously. Since these incidents, universities across the nation have taken a stance in solidarity with the students of color at Mizzou.
On Thursday, November 12, the University of San Francisco’s Black Student Union hosted a Black Out to stand in solidarity with the students at Mizzou. As a Latina student of color, I attended the event to show my support for the black students at USF and around the country. The emotions in the room were running high and you could feel the tension as Sarah Toutant, the BSU president, gave the students in attendance the floor as an opportunity to share their feelings and experiences as black undergraduate students.
The experiences that were shared in that room shook me and I almost immediately had tears in my eyes. It was so clear that students just felt deflated. The confusion and exhaustion was contagious, and everyone in the room felt frustrated. What can we do to change the situation? What can black students and their allies do to finally get the point across that black lives matter, black students matter, and black feelings matter?
I don’t have the answers. I don’t have the slightest idea of where to even begin. But as an ally, I did come to one conclusion. Someone at the Black Out made a valid point that while the event was packed with students eager to help in the moment, more than half of those students don’t regularly attend BSU meetings. It’s in those settings that these students are constantly engaging in discussions and proposing solutions, so why don’t more allies show up to those meetings?
I learned that being an ally doesn’t just mean showing up when black students are plastered all over the media. It doesn’t mean just showing up when it’s mainstream. It means being there even when there is no media coverage. It means being there for every meeting, supporting black students, and truly rising to the occasion and making this cause a priority. It was beautiful to see so many white, brown and black faces at the Black Out, but change doesn’t happen overnight. So it is my hope that after that experience, students of all different backgrounds will be more present during BSU meetings and listen to what the students of color at USF have to say. There is so much power in coming together, and I think at USF, we can really make an impact and a change.
BSU meets every other Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Hayes Healy Formal Lounge. The next meeting will be on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015. For more information, please visit http://www.usfcabsu.com.
