The Black Man in the Middle
Mizzou throws its racism
in the lap of Michael Middleton "It was a brilliant move to get the
solidarity of the esteemed football
players to help focus a spotlight
on Mizzou's race problems."
The
University of Missouri at Columbia has had plenty of time to get its
racist act together. The university received a decade’s notice that
change was inevitable when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1939 that
Lloyd Gaines would be attending law school there. Gaines would never
step foot on the campus; he vanished from the face of the earth shortly
after receiving word that he was about to make history as the first
African American at Mizzou.
The University of Missouri reluctantly accepted its first African
American students in 1950. Black students protesting racism on Mizzou's
campus remind us of this fact with their name #ConcernedStudent1950. I
always appreciate it when history is appropriately connected to the
present. I also appreciate it when protests come with demands and
strategy. It was a brilliant move to get the solidarity of the esteemed
football players to help focus a spotlight on Mizzou's race problems.
The campus protests led by #ConcernStudent1950 and supporters recently
forced the resignations of Mizzou's Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin and
Missouri university system President Tim Wolfe. These two are links in
the long chain of campus keepers of racism.
Wolfe, Loftin and other university officials obviously ignored lessons
from the Ferguson uprising just like they've remained oblivious to the
institutional racism and racists acts of white students against black
students. Ignoring the long and painful history of white supremacy has
finally caught up with Mizzou in a big way.
University officials blocked the enrollment of Lloyd Gaines to attend
law school in 1938. After the 1939 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in this
favor, Gaines disappeared never to be seen or heard from again (his
family speculated he had been murdered to prevent his enrollment).
Then there was the racist backlash against Elson Floyd who endured four
torturous years as the university system's first African American
president. The threats against him and family were so vicious that a
high tech security system had to be installed at the president's
on-campus residence. As in the case of similar threats against the
first black U.S. President, the quantity and brutality of the threats
and hate mail went under-publicized.
Then there are the hangings and beatings over the years, most not
categorized as lynchings to save face for the university and the
town--except maybe for the declared lynching of James T. Scott in 1923
for the alleged rape of a professor's daughter.
Then there’s the track record of recruitment and retention of black
students and faculty. Black students represent 8 per cent of the 35,000
student population with a high percentage of them leaving after their
first year. The black tenured faculty is a measly 3.2 per cent, way
under the national average. This brings me to the demands of
#ConcernedStudent1950.
There's nothing radical about the demands that cover issues from
diversity in students, faculty and curriculum as well as increases in
funding in key areas such as counseling. The protesters demands
are reasonable and doable. They could've demanded that the black
faculty numbers be brought up to the same representation of black
employees in the university's service/maintenance area - a whopping 25
percent - but they didn't.
The demands can provide a blueprint for the university's plan of action
(emphasis on "action"). It would've been encouraging to know that the
system dumped its top officials to make way for racial progress and not
because it would face a $1 million fine had the football team forfeited
the upcoming game.
The reins of the university system president have been temporary turned
over to Michael Middleton. Middleton has a long and storied history
with Mizzou. He helped found the Legion of Black Collegians while a
student at Mizzou back in the 1960’s. He was the third black to
graduate from the law school and is a professor emeritus of law.
Middleton previously served as vice provost for minority affairs and
faculty development, along with other positions of prestige.
Mizzou student activists have praised the interim appointment of
Middleton. Other observers aren’t that optimistic. They question how
aggressive Middleton was in addressing the institutional racism that
plagued the university during the 30 years he held the various
positions of authority. Doubters agree with Middleton’s own
self-assessment when he was recently interviewed.
Middleton wondered if he had been a total failure, “…failure to
convince all to who I reported ... of the magnitude of the problem and
the need to address it.”
We’ll know soon enough--in the weeks and months ahead--if Dr. Middleton
is the right man to bring the University of Missouri system into the
Twenty-first Century.
