Part of the discussions of movements are the outcomes. They got what they wanted.
Here's where the hard part starts though. There will be attempts to minimize the gravity of this protest by saying that everything is over because they acheived thieir goal. Their demands were met. In fact, some of the people that were on board will go back to their dorms to play Madden or Fallout 4 and will never resurface to continue the struggle. Why? They weren't involved for the right reasons or didn't fully comprehend what they were angry about. Similarly, the people who subscribe to the "Are we still talking about race, Slavery wasn't my fault. I have a black president, and When are you people going to relax" mantras will treat this as an endpoint, a period, a full stop for the fight for equality.
Talking about outcomes is important, but what we need to be focusing on is an overall shift in mindsets and our relationships with one another. Movements are not about singular victories. They are about a series of social changes that mark progress of a society to a new and transformed place. That means the movement has to continue.
The civil rights movement saw huge legal and structural changes like The Voting Rights Act 1965, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, The Brown v. Board of Education decision which passed the Warren Court unanimously (9-0) sending a shockwave through the entire country. This is what movements like this budding Neo Civil Rights Movement are and should be fighting for. Body cameras on police: outcome, not endpoint.
People lose their jobs all the time for saying sideways and objectionable things or failing to stop those who say them.
So I ask the question again, what's next? Students are great for crowd sourcing these kinds of things as the local level when you're talking about the school or their community. This is another great chance to see just how deep your students are and let them be creative.
As for Mizzou though? They have an Asian Affairs Center, a Black Culture Center, a Center for Dispute Resolution, the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative, and a few others, but none of these seems to be a campus level department dedicated to ensure Mizzou is a place that makes all people not just feel welcome and accepted, but actually be welcome and accepted in their academic and social community. You know, with an actual Dean and stuff.
Obviously this is based on very thin and rushed research, so if I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but if it doesn't that's insane. Most colleges in 2015 do. If that's the case, that's no different than people refusing to switch from oil lanterns to light bulbs because they thought this electricity thing would blow over.
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Discuss Missouri in class to teach Student activisim
Here's where the hard part starts though. There will be attempts to minimize the gravity of this protest by saying that everything is over because they acheived thieir goal. Their demands were met. In fact, some of the people that were on board will go back to their dorms to play Madden or Fallout 4 and will never resurface to continue the struggle. Why? They weren't involved for the right reasons or didn't fully comprehend what they were angry about. Similarly, the people who subscribe to the "Are we still talking about race, Slavery wasn't my fault. I have a black president, and When are you people going to relax" mantras will treat this as an endpoint, a period, a full stop for the fight for equality.
Talking about outcomes is important, but what we need to be focusing on is an overall shift in mindsets and our relationships with one another. Movements are not about singular victories. They are about a series of social changes that mark progress of a society to a new and transformed place. That means the movement has to continue.
The civil rights movement saw huge legal and structural changes like The Voting Rights Act 1965, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, The Brown v. Board of Education decision which passed the Warren Court unanimously (9-0) sending a shockwave through the entire country. This is what movements like this budding Neo Civil Rights Movement are and should be fighting for. Body cameras on police: outcome, not endpoint.
People lose their jobs all the time for saying sideways and objectionable things or failing to stop those who say them.
So I ask the question again, what's next? Students are great for crowd sourcing these kinds of things as the local level when you're talking about the school or their community. This is another great chance to see just how deep your students are and let them be creative.
As for Mizzou though? They have an Asian Affairs Center, a Black Culture Center, a Center for Dispute Resolution, the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative, and a few others, but none of these seems to be a campus level department dedicated to ensure Mizzou is a place that makes all people not just feel welcome and accepted, but actually be welcome and accepted in their academic and social community. You know, with an actual Dean and stuff.
Obviously this is based on very thin and rushed research, so if I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but if it doesn't that's insane. Most colleges in 2015 do. If that's the case, that's no different than people refusing to switch from oil lanterns to light bulbs because they thought this electricity thing would blow over.
Related Articles:
Discuss Missouri in class to teach Student activisim
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