Mizzou's Racial Issues

Although the article has good points, the article did not mention solutions for the struggles, challenges, and dilemmas of African American students on campus and the future trajectory for African American studies. I know that it is very difficult to predict what changes will be in the future for the trajectory of the African American Studies program. However, the article did bring insight for other researchers as an “opportunity to cultivate solidarity and sharpen and update its analysis of racism in the United States” (p 235).

Sandra Bland, Mike Brown, and Tamir Rice – these are just some of the names of the unarmed Black people whose lives were taken by police officers in the last year. The alarming rate at which young Black men and women are being killed is evidence that their lives are not held with high regard. Police brutality against young Black men and women has been perpetrated at alarming rates. Yet, we have not seen much, if any, consequences or responsibility taken by the policemen committing these crimes. Often times, the families of these young men and women who, because of their race, have been killed by police officers have not seen any justice, instead the names of their loved ones go from headlines to outdated hashtags. Not only do young Black men and women face the chance of being criminalized on the street, but also such targeting begins at a young age in institutions that are typically regarded as “safe places”, such as the classroom. We see evidence of this in the way students are racially profiled and in the growing number of protests that are currently being held on college campuses nationwide. While it may seem as though we live in a post racial society, since overt racism, such as legalized segregation, is a thing of the past, institutionalized racism, a system that distributes opportunities based on the racial hierarchy, still remains and is deeply rooted in our education system, which inhibits any potential academic success by restricting resources and criminalizing

“There is still some debate about whether racially identified higher education is necessary or desirable. But [over] 100 schools exist, and the basic question is, can they compete?” According to the article, “Can HBCUs Compete?” College students today do not educate themselves on the history and legacy that Historically Black Colleges and Universities hold. Normally, they attend an HBCU because of the Black culture that it will teach them, the many other college students who will come from similar backgrounds, and even the parties. When they actually get to an HBCU and experience it first-hand they learn that it is not a right fit for them; it might be because the lack of

Following, numbers of shootings involving law enforcement and black men, race became a pertinent topic among American people. It seems that two groups have revealed themselves through these discussions, those who believe race is still a problem in America, and those who believe America is a post-racial society. History is one of the clearest indicators showing that race may still be relevant in modern communities. A plethora of connections can be drawn between discrepancies in poverty, incarceration, and poor education between whites and blacks when you look at events in our nation’s history such as slavery, sharecropping, Jim Crow laws, and more. With that being said, one of the more significant examples of institutional racism in America is one that is rarely

Hannah Guthrie was a second year English major student when this article was posted in 2010. Hannah being a student questions her creditably because she isn’t an expert and nor does she have a reputation for being advocate on stopping racism. She was a writer for the UCI’s “New University”, which is a school news paper often stretching to seek attention from the media and other forms of

Race and racism continue to exist in our world, and with the assistance of white privilege it becomes increasingly difficult to find a solution. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s book, “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” provides an understanding of why race and racism continue to operate in our world. Tatum effectively answers the question she poses as the title of her book; moreover, I agree with her perception of Affirmative Action and the word racist, but I do not agree with the definition of racism in her book.

It has been many decades since the end of enslaving African-Americans in the United States of America and the laws – since then – have tried to impede discrimination of all kinds especially racial profiling. The debate of racism has never stopped even in January 20th, 2009 when the American nation elected its forty-fourth president of the United States who was the first African-American president in the entire American History. “Racism is over,” many people became very excited and delighted, “America had chosen a black man to lead the nation, there is no more racism.” However, a lot of undesired incidents that occurred after that in many states between white police officers and young African-American individuals have made this concept questionable that it might be tightly related and connected to racism, or in other words, racial bias. In his article “The New Threat: Racism without Racists,” This article was published on the official webpage of the CNN to target a group of people who do not believe that racism still exists, and that it is the main reason behind many crimes committed by police officers against minorities specially the incident of Ferguson, Missouri and the murder of Michael Brown the eighteen-year-old African-American. John Blake enumerates much evidence and quotes many researchers and activists in order to insist that racism has become more natural and impulsive rather than an intended behavior towards minorities. Moreover, this article might target other

The University of Mississippi has its share of racial issues, which result in bad media coverage and lessening the number of diverse students even more. The University of Mississippi has recently had an incident involving race which ended with a protest and the voluntary withdrawal of a student. The use of the peaceful protest made the University become aware of the severity of the racial comment. The use of protests are to demand that colleges be aware and to demand punishment for the racial crime committed. Peaceful Protest usage seem to result in positive outcomes such as within the situation at the University of Missouri. This situation involved “racial inequality and the lack of action from university authorities” (Rhoden). The unfair treatment of a minority and lack of punishment for the racial matter caused the students to begin protesting. Regular students began protesting but with

Colleges are vastly known to have people who bring in their ideas and cultures to campuses. However, there are sometimes when people from two different cultures conflict with each other and it causes problems for not only a college campus but for a society as well. Take the racial conflict between African American and Caucasian Americans, their feud has been going on in America for the past two decades. In 1992, Rodney King was beaten by L.A. police which started the “L.A. Riots” (Biography.com, 2015). During 2012, Trayvon Martin was killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman (Biography.com, 2016). In August 2014, unarmed teenager, Michael Brown, was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson (Buchanan, 2014). These events have two significant things in common. The three victims were killed by white individuals and they were killed on the basis of discrimination and mainly direct racism.

We’re being targeted with : police brutality,stereotyping, and hate crimes. Police brutality has become a big debate over the past few years. Major cases including Trayvon Martin and Eric Gardner have become known nationwide. It's come to a point where African Americans fear police officers but their purpose is to serve as protection from harm. Furthermore , statistically the black race is the most unemployed race in America. For the most part this is our fault, some of us don’t put in a big effort as much as others.When seeking employment and factoring in some of the stereotypes some of us have the slightest chance at being offered good jobs, due to the lack of initiative. Also, after the senseless killing of nine people at a church in South Carolina many people have found it acceptable to express their hate with waving around the Confederate flag. The Confederate flag has been a symbol of racism since the Civil War. As generations have passed , you would expect others to be more open to being accepting but it seems as if we take two steps forward to be pushed two steps

For the Social Justice Action Project, Britnee and I interviewed college students in the Northeast region who revealed their views on the Black Lives Matter Movement, racial injustice, and racial profiling. We had wanted to inform people of what the Black Lives Matter Movement stood for and tackle some of the myths and misconceptions of what the organization represented. In the process, the interviewees have expressed their feelings of how today’s society is blinded by irrational thinking and biased beliefs. This project have made us realize that people often blame the movement of being inconsiderate to all lives matter, relating the movement to the “armed and dangerous” Black Panthers, and the never-ending issues of police-to-black killings.

In order to spread awareness of institutionalized racism in America, Melina Abdullah discusses the foundation of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, and how the corrupt police and governmental systems affect people of color (specifically African Americans) in her piece "The Movement Has a History". Institutionalized racism is so horrifically ingrained in American society due to the disgusting and inhumane ways of the past-- and present. The United States of America prides itself on being the land of the free; however, to juxtapose this, let us look back on the history of POC in America: the mass slaughtering and forced migration of the Native Americans, the enslavement of Africans and African Americans for centuries, the formation of the Ku Klux Klan for the purpose of terrorizing and murdering POC, the lynching and forced deportation of Hispanic people in the 1800s - 1900s, the denial of rightful citizenship of Asian Americans in the 1970s (along with Japanese Americans forcibly being placed in internment camps), antisemitism and denial of Jewish immigration into the US during the Holocaust, Islamophobia in the late 1900s - current day, the murderous marches of Neo-Nazis (and the lack of condemnation from the American government for their horrific actions), and so much more.

In modern days, there have been many reports on African-Americans who claim that they are unfairly treated at universities and that there isn’t any administrative responsiveness. Additionally, some say that the effort administrators are giving isn’t effective. Other students on these campuses say that the African-Americans are just overacting and that the incidents aren’t that serious. In contrast, administrators claim that they are attending to the problems that these students have and that they are trying their best to find a solution to the problem. Racial hostility is when “someone or a group of people are prejudice towards people of a different race, religion, or country” (Racial Hostility). According to black people, this is what they declare is a problem that they are facing today at their universities. The controversy over this situation comes to a question asking, “Are college administrators reacting to the racial hostility on campuses and is it effective? Over the past years, there have been multiple prejudice events that occurred, which is the reason why this controversy is in existence. One being at the University of Oklahoma, where white males were caught on video chanting racial slurs. Another one being at the University of Missouri, where officials were slow to handle racial incidents on the campus that contributed to protests, a student hunger strike, and a

According to the Daily Aztec news source, which has been an independent news source for San Diego State University since 1913, The Afrikan Student Excellence Council (ASEC) held meetings alongside other cultural groups across campus to discuss racial profiling in the San Diego State University Police department 's crime alerts. One of their supporters Shellie Stamps, who is the Association of Africana Studies Majors and Minors President said, “The Main Concern, which was cause for the meeting, was racial profiling”. As the meeting went on, students offered testimonies about incidents in which they were victims of the crime alerts, similar to my own scenario. Students said that the “ambiguity” of the crime alerts targeted African American males which alluded them to be subjected to many uncomfortable situations and very insensitive racial jokes. One of the victims, named Jonathan Cunha, told his story and said, “Last year I had some of my classmates joking, ‘Oh you robbed somebody again, people were always saying, ‘wow these descriptions, they sound a lot like you.” The main issue that comes from this is whether or not the racial descriptions are necessary and are effective in capturing the suspects of the crime. San Diego State University students who rallied are a good example of the steps needed in order to get a

remains the most unresolved issue on campus [in the US] today” (Bikson & Law p. 91). Frequent campus reports of racially-motivated hate crimes imply that this remains a huge issue. Proponents