Outside the 'South': Black Missouri football players threaten strike - joins student group a
Columbia, MO
Several dozen African-American football players at Missouri are threatening to stop participating in any football activities until the president of the university system is fired or resigns.
The action stems from troubling racial incidents on the Columbia, Mo., campus, incidents that Missouri’s Legion of Black Collegians believes were poorly handled by Tim Wolfe. The group announced its decision, using the hashtag #ConcernedStudent1950 and a photo of 32 black men on Twitter on Saturday night. Included in the photo is Russell Hansbrough, the team’s starting running back. Concerned Student 1950, the student activism group leading the protests, is named for the year Missouri first admitted African-American students.
“The athletes of color on the University of Missouri football team truly believe ‘Injustice Anywhere is a threat to Justice Everywhere,'” the tweet read. “We will no longer participate in any football related activities until President Tim Wolfe resigns or is removed due to his negligence toward marginalized students’ experiences. WE ARE UNITED!!!!!”
The group also made a lengthy list of demands.
In a statement Saturday night, the school said: “The department of athletics is aware of the declarations made tonight by many of our student-athletes. 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.” In a text message to the Columbia Missourian, Chad Moller, the associate athletic director/athletic communication, said: “We’re working to get our hands around the facts of the situation right now.”
Racal tensions at the campus have been rising over the last several months. Last month, an excrement-smeared swastika was on a dorm’s new white wall was the catalyst for a hunger strike initiated by Jonathan L. Butler, a 25-year-old graduate student. “I already feel like campus is an unlivable space,” Butler, who is African American, told the Washington Post last month. “So it’s worth sacrificing something of this grave amount, because I’m already not wanted here. I’m already not treated like I’m a human.”
The embattled administration of the University of Missouri has responded to a boycott by its football players. In addition to the swastika incident, Payton Head, the Missouri Students Association president and an African-American, said he was racially abused as he walked on campus. That incident triggered a student protest when Loftin did not address it for a week. Last month, a student yelled the N-word at members of the Legion of Black Collegians in a campus plaza while they were rehearsing for a play.
Wolfe met briefly with Concerned Student members Saturday night at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and was asked to define systematic oppression, according to the Maneater.
“Systematic oppression is because you don’t believe that you have the equal opportunity for success,” he said. When asked by a protester whether he was blaming African-American students for systematic oppression, the Maneater reports that he walked away.