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!!!!!”
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I take off my hat in honor of the good work that the students at this university are doing. They are facing their problem and doing something. I hope this is the wave of the future. I wish I could say as much for the general population of this country. True enough; the work we have to do to provide food, clothing and shelter for ourselves makes it hard to participate in the decision making processes of this country. But if we want the Democracy (that we have been told we have) we must actively participate in it. We cannot sit back and let it happen to us. Democracy is a contact sport. We must make contact and participate like these students are participating. Again; hats off for the students!