Missouri Football Players to Strike

[Rhode Irish]

How can you logically separate the two? What made them feel marginalized? Oh yeah... The isolated incidents. You still haven't explained what exactly what the correct response was supposed to be. Do you think these incidents demanded massive institutional change? Because that is what the rioters have demanded after they happened. They felt these incidents, not broad disenfranchisement over a period of time, demanded it.

Maybe you haven't gotten to my post yet, but I think you're wrong about this. They only demanded institutional change after the institution basically ignored their concerns. The isolated incidents you are referring to set this all in motion, but the protests are not really about those incidents in and of themselves. I think the administration could have responded with some level of thoughtfulness and reassurance that the targeted students are valued members of the community and that attempts to marginalize them wouldn't be tolerated or tacitly condoned. Essentially, if the university had put its arms around the black community and not ignored their concerns, these protests wouldn't have happened.

 

[IrishinSyria]

How can you logically separate the two? What made them feel marginalized? Oh yeah... The isolated incidents. You still haven't explained what exactly what the correct response was supposed to be. Do you think these incidents demanded massive institutional change? Because that is what the rioters have demanded after they happened. They felt these incidents, not broad disenfranchisement over a period of time, demanded it.

I don't think they ever made the claim that those specific incidents were meant to be a complete laundry list of their complaints. Rather, they were representative incidents of what many considered to be a marginalizing experience. I've already stated that I think improved communication would have solved the problem before it ever started, or at least saved the president's job.

This whole thing reminded me of Eric Striker's epic snap after the "never be a n-word" frat chant got out...

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[yankeehater]

I thought the UNI President did meet with the student group. Were they expecting an over night response or solution? Look at how slow ND has moved on decisions on the recent FB player situations.

I have no idea if the UNI Prez is in the right or wrong here. It is scary to me that due to the media mob he has to resign on Monday over a story that broke the day before.

 

[IrishinSyria]

I thought the UNI President did meet with the student group. Were they expecting an over night response or solution? Look at how slow ND has moved on decisions on the recent FB player situations.

I have no idea if the UNI Prez is in the right or wrong here. It is scary to me that due to the media mob he has to resign on Monday over a story that broke the day before.

By the time the story broke there was nothing he could do, I'll concede that. The point is that this wasn't an overnight issue- tensions have been red hot in Missouri for over a year now and (apparently) he didn't really take notice until the football team got involved.

edit: to be clear, I don't know who is "wrong" and "right" here. I don't know what "enough" would have been or if there were any actions this guy could have taken to save his job. What I do know is that a significant portion of the black student body felt marginalized. That is a failure of leadership, which is what I continue to maintain this whole story really boils down to. The executive, the leader of the school, failed in his responsibility to make sure all of his subordinates bought in to what the school was doing. Whether they should have bought in or not, I make no claims to know.

 

[woolybug25]

Maybe you haven't gotten to my post yet, but I think you're wrong about this. They only demanded institutional change after the institution basically ignored their concerns. The isolated incidents you are referring to set this all in motion, but the protests are not really about those incidents in and of themselves. I think the administration could have responded with some level of thoughtfulness and reassurance that the targeted students are valued members of the community and that attempts to marginalize them wouldn't be tolerated or tacitly condoned. Essentially, if the university had put its arms around the black community and not ignored their concerns, these protests wouldn't have happened.

I did read your post. The university met with them, they tried to work with them. Its disingenuous to say that they didn't respond. They responded specifically in the manner that their protocol dictates. Again, what specifically about their response was insensitive? That they didn't completely overhaul their current policies and procedures based off of a couple incidents? Because they didn't make these changes immediately without any due process or research? Because at that time, that's all it was. Then they went immediately to social media and protest. They repeatedly cornered Wolfe with large groups of protesters. They made a laundry list of impossible demands. They destroyed the man's life and reputation.

 

[kmoose]

... but Ferguson was a BIG deal. Black people are very much concerned for their well being....

Then don't try to grab an officers firearm away from him while you are wrestling with him through the open window of his car....

 

[IrishMoore1]

I find it interesting that when the football team says they won't play until the president resigns, the president immediately resigns. Money talks.

 

[Rhode Irish]

I did read your post. The university met with them, they tried to work with them. Its disingenuous to say that they didn't respond. They responded specifically in the manner that their protocol dictates. Again, what specifically about their response was insensitive? That they didn't completely overhaul their current policies and procedures based off of a couple incidents? Because they didn't make these changes immediately without any due process or research? Because at that time, that's all it was. Then they went immediately to social media and protest. They repeatedly cornered Wolfe with large groups of protesters. They made a laundry list of impossible demands. They destroyed the man's life and reputation.

I've said a number of times that I am not defending the actions of the protesting students, because I just don't know enough about the specifics to feel like I can speak intelligently about who should have done what and when. But I don't know that meeting with these students should have been enough. Did the President come out and strongly condemn the incidents the students were complaining about and make it clear that those students had the university's unwavering support? Did he convey that addressing their concerns was a priority? I feel like there is a desire, or at least a willingness, to dismiss these students and their concerns as unreasonable, and I just don't know that I buy that. I think people are generally reasonable, and if they are this concerned then I am at least willing to entertain the idea that their concern isn't unfounded.

 

[IrishLax]

The thing that is most remarkable is how quickly a small group of people actually affected real change in a short window of time on a person in a position of power. That is not only rare, it might be unique. I'm struggling to find another comparable situation.

One guy decided to make a stand for something he believed in. Then a small group of football players found a point of leverage, and then the whole team united behind those people to make it a large point of leverage. Seemingly overnight, by finding leverage, they got the change they were looking for despite having no "power" to enact that change. They actually won.

I see protests every day in DC. None of them accomplish a single fucking thing except make people feel good about themselves for "standing up for something." The grad student and the football team... by actually being willing to sacrifice for something they truly believed in... accomplished their goals. This is such a departure from typical SJW lip service, and I really respect it on a number of levels.

 

[IrishinSyria]

The thing that is most remarkable is how quickly a small group of people actually affected real change in a short window of time on a person in a position of power. That is not only rare, it might be unique. I'm struggling to find another comparable situation.

One guy decided to make a stand for something he believed in. Then a small group of football players found a point of leverage, and then the whole team united behind those people to make it a large point of leverage. Seemingly overnight, by finding leverage, they got the change they were looking for despite having no "power" to enact that change. They actually won.

I see protests every day in DC. None of them accomplish a single fucking thing except make people feel good about themselves for "standing up for something." The grad student and the football team... by actually being willing to sacrifice for something they truly believed in... accomplished their goals. This is such a departure from typical SJW lip service, and I really respect it on a number of levels.

One reason I'm willing to give the protestors the benefit of the doubt is the extent to which they were willing to sacrifice. One dude on a hunger strike isn't that unusual, but football players aren't exactly your typical SJWs. And those guys took a real risk that they would be seen by scouts as problematic and thus lose leverage in the draft. They found their leverage, but it's not like it was risk free. When there's this much smoke, there's usually fire.

 

[IrishLax]

One reason I'm willing to give the protestors the benefit of the doubt is the extent to which they were willing to sacrifice. One dude on a hunger strike isn't that unusual, but football players aren't exactly your typical SJWs. And those guys took a real risk that they would be seen by scouts as problematic and thus lose leverage in the draft. They found their leverage, but it's not like it was risk free. When there's this much smoke, there's usually fire.

Agreed. It's hard to believe that there wasn't a perceived widespread problem if a group of people is willing to stick their neck out like that. Nobody goes to lengths like that unless they believe in what they're doing, and moreover they took a larger risk than many realize. They could've jeopardized both their educational and athletic futures with their decision.

 

[kmoose]

I feel like there is a desire, or at least a willingness, to dismiss these students and their concerns as unreasonable

I will only attempt to speak for myself, but for me.......... I don't think their concerns are unreasonable, but their demands sure as hell are. How about if the President of the University said that he was going to cut off funding for the football team until every one of the black players stood up at a Press Conference and admitted that they would never have been accepted to any college, if they weren't really good athletes? How about if the voters of Missouri passed a law that gave the football team until the 2017-2018 season to reach a quota of 80% white players, to better reflect the demographics of the University? What's amazing is that these people don't seem to understand that they are creating more racial animosity toward themselves than any racist skinhead could ever hope to.

 

[magogian]

All,

Here's the seminal article this year on the topic: "The Coddling of the American Mind." It is a long read but it is excellent.

Something strange is happening at America’s colleges and universities. A movement is arising, undirected and driven largely by students, to scrub campuses clean of words, ideas, and subjects that might cause discomfort or give offense. Last December, Jeannie Suk wrote in an online article for The New Yorker about law students asking her fellow professors at Harvard not to teach rape law—or, in one case, even use the word violate (as in “that violates the law”) lest it cause students distress. In February, Laura Kipnis, a professor at Northwestern University, wrote an essay in The Chronicle of Higher Education describing a new campus politics of sexual paranoia—and was then subjected to a long investigation after students who were offended by the article and by a tweet she’d sent filed Title IX complaints against her. In June, a professor protecting himself with a pseudonym wrote an essay for Vox describing how gingerly he now has to teach. “I’m a Liberal Professor, and My Liberal Students Terrify Me,” the headline said. A number of popular comedians, including Chris Rock, have stopped performing on college campuses (see Caitlin Flanagan’s article in this month’s issue). Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Maher have publicly condemned the oversensitivity of college students, saying too many of them can’t take a joke.

 

[magogian]

I will only attempt to speak for myself, but for me.......... I don't think their concerns are unreasonable, but their demands sure as hell are. .

It is called catastrophizing. You can read about it in the article I linked to.

 

[magogian]

Are these verified? Were people caught, and if so, punished?

Let's be real... Four incidents in two years at a public university with enrollment over 35k students is nothing. That's probably not even the per capita amount of incidents for the state as a whole. Hell, probably not even for any business in the state of Missouri. For instance, there were 7 reported sexual assaults reported to the Mizzou PD in that time. A myriad of assaults. Where is the outrage for those?

University of Missouri - Columbia Police Department

The Missouri football team committed of a huge number of crimes.

Missouri had 63 criminal cases involving 46 athletes during the five-year time period. Twelve athletes were involved in more than one incident, Outside the Lines found, and Missouri had the second-highest number of allegations of sexual assault, violence against women, and harassment. Florida State had the most

A bit rich that the football team strikes for what is frankly a far less evil - a few racial epithets -- than what they perpetrate themselves.

 

[yankeehater]

Have there been Jewish groups involved in the protests? Why did the black students feel the swastika was geared towards them and not the Jewish students?

 

[Bishop2b5]

I haven't had time to read all the articles, but from what I've seen, it appears that the only incidents were a couple of yokels who used a racial slur. Is there anything more that I've missed? If not, how does that constitute systemic racism by the university and how is a university president supposed to control what a couple of rednecks, who may not even be students on his campus, say?

 

[BGIF]

Have there been Jewish groups involved in the protests? Why did the black students feel the swastika was geared towards them and not the Jewish students?

Aryan Nation, I suppose, although I've seen no mention of any involvement by them or any other racist organization.

Both the fecal swastika and the pickup truck expletive weren't connected to any student or employee of the university. Were they real incidents of racism or a much less dramatic burning of the Reichstag? Regardless they were used as a focal to rally protest that effectively employed a "with us or against us strategy" to extort a win.

 

[Black Irish]

I'd love to see who wants to step into the newly vacated university president role. "Wanted: University President candidate. Must have experience giving into the extortionist demands of hysterical SJWs and managing a complete clusterf*ck of a college campus. Candidates who don't disavow and regularly self-flagellate themselves over their white privilege need not apply. Salary commensurate with experience."

 

[IrishinSyria]

I'd love to see who wants to step into the newly vacated university president role. "Wanted: University President candidate. Must have experience giving into the extortionist demands of hysterical SJWs and managing a complete clusterf*ck of a college campus. Candidates who don't disavow and regularly self-flagellate themselves over their white privilege need not apply. Salary commensurate with experience."

Dude got paid $450,000 last year. I would take the job for half that in a heartbeat.. And I would implement the plan they already had in the pipe-line, and form a student leadership coalition to consult with on a regular basis.

 

[Black Irish]

Dude got paid $450,000 last year. I would take the job for half that in a heartbeat.. And I would implement the plan they already had in the pipe-line, and form a student leadership coalition to consult with on a regular basis.

Sure, and when that student coalition decides that you're too white, too old, too whatever, they pressure you right out of a job because some random things beyond your control happened. Anyone who steps into this job is in a lose-lose scenario. The only way to be more acceptable than the guy who just resigned is to be even more open to pressure tactics and extortion by hysterical SJW students, cravenly pandering politicians, and faculty members who never met a left-wing protest movement they didn't like. Now if someone comes in and thinks he's going to play tough guy as university president and not bend to an extremist mob, well, you'll just get beat over the head with your privilege in the media until you give in and resign. Or get fired. Sounds like a great job. Be a coward and you get to serve at the pleasure of the rabble. Try to put some steel in your spine and you'll get branded a bigot and run out on a rail.

 

[BGIF]

Dude got paid $450,000 last year. I would take the job for half that in a heartbeat.. And I would implement the plan they already had in the pipe-line, and form a student leadership coalition to consult with on a regular basis.

Then you would have been protested and forced to resign just as the former President was as he had that plan to go in effect in 2016 AFTER input from faculty and students in compliance with university requirements.

 

[IrishinSyria]

Sure, and when that student coalition decides that you're too white, too old, too whatever, they pressure you right out of a job because some random things beyond your control happened. Anyone who steps into this job is in a lose-lose scenario. The only way to be more acceptable than the guy who just resigned is to be even more open to pressure tactics and extortion by hysterical SJW students, cravenly pandering politicians, and faculty members who never met a left-wing protest movement they didn't like. Now if someone comes in and thinks he's going to play tough guy as university president and not bend to an extremist mob, well, you'll just get beat over the head with your privilege in the media until you give in and resign. Or get fired. Sounds like a great job. Be a coward and you get to serve at the pleasure of the rabble. Try to put some steel in your spine and you'll get branded a bigot and run out on a rail.

Yeah, I mean I disagree with like all of those categorizations. I don't typically put football players in the SJW box, so I'm working off the assumption that black students actually felt marginalized and weren't just out for blood. But, you know, maybe good faith is a crazy assumption.

 

[Legacy]

I haven't had time to read all the articles, but from what I've seen, it appears that the only incidents were a couple of yokels who used a racial slur. Is there anything more that I've missed? If not, how does that constitute systemic racism by the university and how is a university president supposed to control what a couple of rednecks, who may not even be students on his campus, say?

The Missouri football strike was about a lot of things, but mostly about respect - SBNation.com

This is the best article I've found on what led to the players' strike. Lots of people weighing in with their comments, too. I appreciated his experience with diversity when he went to school there. He like many of us found some of the players' demands petty and demeaning. Still,

A combination of poor leadership and minimal pay increases has led to a depressed environment. Insiders and outsiders have noted morale on campus feels like it's at an all-time low.

This can be viewed as a failure in effective leadership with the President becoming a lightning rod.

But when you are a well-paid figurehead, your responses matter more than your intentions. Wolfe's responses to ongoing protests and incidents were aloof. He later admitted as much

.

But the bar is justifiably a lot higher in 2015, and while "oppression" by some definitions might not be involved, respect is. The offenses here are more anecdotal than systemic, but that's enough, isn't it? In 2015, when your student body president is being harassed, and when you cannot post publicly about that on social media without getting bullied, it isn't too much to hope that your university leaders will publicly lend you support.

Missouri is a campus where a black, gay male can be chosen as Student Body President but who can also experience anonymous abuse through social media.

A college campus is one of the perfect environments for learning about yourself and others. It doesn't have to be. You will find like-minded individuals, and if you choose, you can convince yourself that you and your kind are better than others. You can use selective anecdotes to back your thinking up. We all do this to some degree -- black and white is always easier than gray.

They are working through this without the violence that lit up cities in the 70s, or the hatred that led to lynchings or murders of civil rights workers. They're setting up a Diversity and Inclusion program that will probably be like Notre Dame's.

 

[JTLA]

The Missouri football strike was about a lot of things, but mostly about respect - SBNation.com

This is the best article I've found on what led to the players' strike. Lots of people weighing in with their comments, too. I appreciated his experience with diversity when he went to school there. He like many of us found some of the players' demands petty and demeaning. Still,

This can be viewed as a failure in effective leadership with the President becoming a lightning rod.

.



Missouri is a campus where a black, gay male can be chosen as Student Body President but who can also experience anonymous abuse through social media.



They are working through this without the violence that lit up cities in the 70s, or the hatred that led to lynchings or murders of civil rights workers. They're setting up a Diversity and Inclusion program that will probably be like Notre Dame's.

Jeeeeeezus, I just read this guy's actual letter of demands. He's a fucking nutjob and I don't care about race or anything else. This man who wrote this list is a fucking nutjob. These are very interesting times folks. A fucking nutjob. Did I mention he's a nutjob?

There is no reason to have a reasonable discussion about anything else on this topic until this much is agreed upon by all. This man is a fucking nutjob.

Honestly, how did this fucking nutjob convince the media to follow his lead on this story? He's a fucking nutjob.

http://www.kmbc.com/blob/view/-/363...DF-Concerned-Student-1950-list-of-demands.pdf

 

[Voltaire]

Going to be actively rooting against Mizzou for the rest of the season. There is a way to demonstrate leadership and resiliency, and this is the exact opposite way to do it. My goodness what is happening in our country? If I threatened to strike over racial slurs I've heard directed directly at me over the course of my life I would have been homeless already 1,000 times over. Who/what is enabling this bats**t SJW insanity? Ignore idiots who say ignorant things. It's really simple. They fall by the wayside very quickly on your way up.

 

[dublinirish]

Going to be actively rooting against Mizzou for the rest of the season. There is a way to demonstrate leadership and resiliency, and this is the exact opposite way to do it. My goodness what is happening in our country? If I threatened to strike over racial slurs I've heard directed directly at me over the course of my life I would have been homeless already 1,000 times over. Who/what is enabling this bats**t SJW insanity? Ignore idiots who say ignorant things. It's really simple. They fall by the wayside very quickly on your way up.

so victims on racism are to supposed to just get on with life and stop complaining?

 

[Voltaire]

Dublin, hearing some mean words from idiots and ignoring them and focusing on your own priorities is better than getting innocent people fired or lighting cars on fire, at least in my own personal experience as someone who I can essentially guarantee has dealt with this personally a whole lot more than you have, but by all means opt for the latter and see how that works out for you and your community. I've been rewarded very well for doing things my way.

 

[Cackalacky]

Agreed. It's hard to believe that there wasn't a perceived widespread problem if a group of people is willing to stick their neck out like that. Nobody goes to lengths like that unless they believe in what they're doing, and moreover they took a larger risk than many realize. They could've jeopardized both their educational and athletic futures with their decision.

Agree as well. I can't fathom why someone would risk that much if they did not REALLY believe in what they were doing it for.


Also someone else mentioned about them Jewish students and the fecal swastika?
I read where there was a Jewish group that joined with the Concerned1950 group because of that. It's buried in a few of the articles linked already.

So there are many things going on on the campus and it is evident it has been going on for a while, so much so that multiple groups and teachers have responded .

 

[connor_in]

I'd love to see who wants to step into the newly vacated university president role. "Wanted: University President candidate. Must have experience giving into the extortionist demands of hysterical SJWs and managing a complete clusterf*ck of a college campus. Candidates who don't disavow and regularly self-flagellate themselves over their white privilege need not apply. Salary commensurate with experience."

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