Time for Yet Another President

At MU, that is.

Black players from the Missouri Tigers football team say they will not participate in team activities until the university president, Tim Wolfe, resigns.

  Guardian

He'll have to go then. Nothing gets in the way of Tigers football.  And kudos to the athletes who are willing to take a stand, considering their careers and futures are on the line.  (UPDATE:  Wolfe said he will not resign.  He may well get canned, though.)

The Missouri athletics department issued a statement on Saturday that supported the athletes’ right to protest. “The department of athletics is aware of the declarations made tonight by many of our student-athletes,” it said. “We all must come together with leaders from across our campus to tackle these challenging issues and we support our student-athletes right to do so.”

[...]

There have been several incidents of racial harassment in recent weeks on the college campus and Wolfe has come under criticism for his handling of the situation. In one recent incident, excrement in the shape of a swastika was smeared on a dormitory wall while other students have complained that racist slurs are common at the university. Jonathan Butler, a black graduate student at the college, is currently on hunger strike over the issue. 

Racism? In Missouri?!

Wolfe released a statement on Saturday night, addressing Butler’s hunger strike but did not mention the players’ protest.

[...]

“I am very concerned about Jonathan’s health. His voice for social justice is important and powerful. He is being heard and I am listening. I am thankful for the leadership provided by him and the other student leaders in raising awareness of racism, injustice, and intolerance. This afternoon I also met with representatives of several student groups and I value their input and hear their voices.”

Are you packing?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

P.S.

Members of Concerned Student 1950, which draws its name from the year the first black student was accepted to MU, also began camping on the Carnahan Quadrangle, demanding Wolfe resign.

[...]

On the field, Missouri has lost four in a row after a 31-13 home defeat against Mississippi State on Thursday night.

  Columbia Tribue

Well, that isn't going to help their cause.

Anyway, it's time to drag MU into being a truly integrated campus. Do the black students still feel the need to self-segregate in the food court?

Come to think of it, it's time to drag Missouri into a truly integrated state.

 Caveat: this will be hard to do.

Nice article on what's happening in The Nation.
Follow at:

https://twitter.com/hashtag/MizzouUnited?src=hash

https://twitter.com/hashtag/ConcernedStudent1950?src=hash

UPDATE:  Background

For months, now, black students at Mizzou have documented a series of incidents in which they were accosted with racial epithets. In the most notorious incident, a swastika was drawn on the bathroom wall of one of the dorms using feces.

In October, black students staged a protest along the homecoming parade route. They formed a chain in front of the president's car chanting, "It's our duty to fight for our freedom!"

Wolfe said nothing to the students and when police removed the students from the street, the crowd erupted in applause.

  NPR

Yes, and Wolfe has just apologized for that incident, which occurred a week ago and gave rise to the above-mentioned hunger strike by masters degree student Jonathan Butler.

On Friday, Wolfe met with Butler and other representatives of the Student 1950 Movement — 1950, by the way, was the first time black students were allowed to attend the University of Missouri.

[...]

That same night, however, Wolfe was confronted by a group of students outside a fundraiser in Kansas City. They asked him what he thought systematic oppression was.

"I will give you an answer and I'm sure it will be a wrong answer," he said. The students pressed him and he eventually relented: "Systematic oppression is because you don't believe that you have the equal opportunity for success."

The protesters erupted in disbelief. The words "you don't believe" stung. "Did you just blame us for systematic oppression?" one of them asked, as Wolfe walked away.

A day later, the student athletes announced their strike.

Further Update: Here's a video of the protest that led to the strike (that's President Wolfe's car they're blocking and that a group of whites think they'll help protect by doing the same thing, causing another group of whites to join the blacks):

 

UPDATE 11/9 (Next day): Wolfe apparently got his call from the Board last night. He's had a change of heart.