Segregation in 2022 at Mizzou

This weekend I woke up to a video of a man in a white KKK hood walking on my campus. This morning I had a panic attack on my way to class because there was a white man simply walking towards me on the sidewalk wearing a baseball cap and hoodie who had his head down. I crossed the street because I feared he might stab me or harm me in some way simply because of the color of my skin.

Where did that fear come from? I have never had fears like that because I have never experienced this kind of environment in Illinois. Even if it hasn’t been targeted at me specifically, nothing separates me from any other black girl on the block.

I graduated from Augustana College, Class of 2022 and am currently pursuing my Masters degree in Broadcast Journalism here in Columbia. During my undergraduate experience at this small liberal arts college, I was exposed to a variety of people, perspectives, and ideas. While Augustana is a predominately white school, it has taken great strides to do a great job of promoting inclusivity and celebrating diversity.

I didn’t realize just how active, inclusive and welcoming it really was until I came to the University of Missouri. What started off as a seemingly coexisting experience between what seemed like a mini-Historically Black College/University (HBCU) and Predominately White Institution (PWI), quickly changed days after I arrived.

Coming to a new place, I was excited to make new friends. I decided to reach out and join Her Campus Mizzou, since Her Campus Augustana was the first group I joined in undergrad. It was so inclusive and welcoming and I was honored to continue fostering such an environment during my co-presidency senior year. I don’t have the exact demographics but our first meeting consisted of over 100 students, from several different backgrounds and gender identities at a school of about 2,500 students. After being added to the HCMiz GroupMe, I saw it consisted of 35 women, two of which are people of color (including myself) at a school with a student population of nearly 30,000. I hope you can see the problem here and the massive missed opportunity.

In addition to joining Her Campus, I wanted to be a part of something to meet people within my major. I joined the National Association for Black Journalists. This group was formed to create a place for black journalists to advocate for inclusivity. Do you have to be black to join? No. Is there anyone there who is not black? Not right now. How is that inclusive? Well… it's not, really.

As a person of color, surrounded by the majority, there were times when I did have to step up and help my peers understand situations from my point of view. Many of my peers were awakened by events and once they became more racially educated and aware, most continued being allies and actively anti-racist. With the help of Augustana, the role of the Office of Student Inclusion and Diversity, and the open-mindedness of those around me, we were able to help bridge an evident gap and put stereotypes to rest, especially in greek-life.

If Augie didn’t encourage this inclusive and open-minded environment, these students would not have been able to unite as they did. I’m not saying that everything was perfect, I was very critical and there is always more to be done, but they really did try to educate us.

I once was so frustrated with Augustana because although there was diversity and inclusion, I wanted the campus to be able to celebrate this diversity without the mandatory diversity events. We can’t force people to care. I want them to keep going and continue to push to be MORE inclusive and all around welcoming. I am so proud of the changes, support, and efforts taken within my sorority to promote this inclusion. Of course, it’s still not perfect but with more education comes more action and I know they will continue to make changes.

I can’t say the same for Mizzou because outside of the School of Journalism, inclusion is limited and I hate it here. I was so excited to continue my education and about the possibilities it would create for my future. But the cost is a feeling I can’t believe so many people had to endure and carry with them before me. It’s like when you’re young and you lose your parents in the grocery store. That first thought is I’m alone, and you feel so little, and unimportant to everyone else and vulnerable, like anyone could scoop you up and take you away any moment. The next thought is, Where can I go that’s safe? It’s safe by our parents' side, so we find them. Now remember feeling that isolation, feeling irrelevant to everyone else (because this university is either oblivious to the segregation going on or the people who do notice simply don’t care to do or say anything because it doesn’t directly affect them). But there is nowhere safe for you to go. I will never forget this feeling and I’ll do everything I can to keep those after me from having to go through this.

I came to the Missouri School of Journalism because not only is it the first School of Journalism, it’s also one of the best schools of Journalism in the nation. While it is the most inclusive school at the university, my heart aches and stomach wrenches at the thought that I never would’ve come here and had these opportunities had I known the mental toll of what life at the University of Missouri was really like.

Every Monday and Wednesday at 9:30 AM I go to class and sit on the left side of the classroom. I didn’t notice at first (because I was really just looking for a left handed desk), but with a quick look around during the second week of school I realized that my classroom is, by definition, segregated: set apart from each other; isolated or divided…

This brings me back to multiple articles I read about The University of Missouri’s tough history with race: A timeline. To sum it up, the first black man who was accepted into the University of Missouri School of Law, “disappeared”. It wasn’t until 1950 that the first black man actually attended the University but

“He had to go off campus to a coffeehouse because every social space on campus was “whites only”” (Anderson, 2015).

These facts disgust me. I try to keep in mind that the history of Missouri is not a pleasant one for us BIPOC. However, it has been 72 years and the BIPOC on this campus have since suffered through lynchings, harassment, swastikas painted in feces and more.

With every step taken to promote diversity, there is always backlash. A prime example: the students staged a hunger strike and camped on the quad to get the university to take action. Yes, they were able to hire more people of color on staff. Yes, they were able to get a confederate rock on display moved off of campus. Yes, they made a huge impact on this university. But students are still facing that backlash. After this strike, the University created six policies to limit students' first amendment rights on campus. Action wasn’t taken until the football team got involved and it wasn’t until 2016 that the University hired a staff member for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

We have a Long and Troubled Racial Past of Mizzou, that I believe limits the university and promotes the exclusivity we see today. My classroom is segregated because the campus is segregated. The campus is segregated because the city is segregated. The city is segregated because the state is segregated.

Throughout the past few weeks I’ve heard about BIPOC on campus being called the N word with a hard R and I’ve seen white people called ‘snow roaches’. At this point it’s difficult for me to see how the prejudice doesn’t go both ways and it is all-around, unacceptable. I’m not going to sit here and say that every person at this school is prejudiced, because that can’t be true. Quite frankly, I have met a decent amount of people from a very diverse amount of backgrounds who have been nothing but kind and inclusive since I’ve met them. However, as I walk the quad of the University of Missouri it seems more than evident to me that this school is segregated and it seems it may be so by adapted choice. What I mean by adapted choice is that in the past BIPOC on campus adapted to forming black groups just so they could have a voice in this environment.

The two groups have been encouraged to practice mutual respect. Int e university’s Commitment to Free Expression it states,

“it is not the proper role of the University to attempt to shield individuals from ideas and opinions they find unwelcome, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive. The University greatly values civility, and all members of the University community share in the responsibility for maintaining a climate of mutual respect.”

This tells me that not only is the university okay with subjecting BIPOC to offensive language and that it’s okay with the segregation on campus as long as mutual respect is maintained, but it also tells me that the university isn’t going to do anything about it.

Knowing this place’s history; the past of white on black crime and harassment, the lack of leadership to do something about it, and the current, very evident separation of the students is difficult to digest. Not only does it make me feel uneasy and unwelcome as a bi-racial woman of color, it also devastates me to see how little has changed since 2016. In a conversation with my coworker of color, I asked him how he felt about Mizzou and he pointed to his skin in question, immediately knowing what I was talking about.

“It could be more diverse. It could be more inclusive…it’s segregated,” said an anonymous Class of 2023 Mizzou Student.

I know that there has been (very little) change since these events have happened. But let me be the first to say or at least acknowledge that shit is still happening and it can be traumatic and anxiety-inducing. Every student at Mizzou is here for an education. It shouldn’t be at the cost of enduring racism and prejudices that lie beneath the surface of campus for the next two to six years of our lives.

I feel like there is no place for me here and I fear any decision I make might be a wrong one. I don’t want to ‘choose a side’ and I shouldn’t have to. In 2022, my classroom shouldn’t be separated. At a school with such a diverse population, we should have more than unspoken black or white “only” groups and events. Segregation in this day and age should not only be looked at as a problem, it should be something that people are actively trying to stop: especially when so many are so clearly aware of it.

When speaking with white students on this campus some do not even see the divide, while others acknowledge how the university tends to drift into separate groups.

With all respect, why is that the end of the conversation? If you didn’t see it before and even if you did, I hope this article encourages you to actively be inclusive and try to make a change here in Columbia. Inclusivity is not something that should need to be forced on a college campus. Students should simply be kind and engage to learn about their fellow peers. Is it truly too much to ask for people to put their prejudice aside and get to know one another? These segregated organizations and classrooms don’t encourage inclusivity. A mandatory diversity course and a sticker on the door doesn’t make me feel like I belong here.

I understand that Missouri was a slave state and that years and years ago, many of these students’ grandparents and great grandparents may have fought to keep the separation. However, I have faith in my generation to do better and be better than those who came before us. This sticker is going to come true and we are going to make Mizzou ️a place for you.