Good for Mizzou

Good for Mizzou. Those are honestly words I never thought I would say in my lifetime. As a Husker fan, there is no love lost between our two programs. There have been contentious situations with fans, some of them ending less than sportsmanlike.

But there are things much more important. Today, Missouri's President Tim Wolfe and Chancellor announced their resignations following months of a lackluster, almost non-response to student complaints of racism. The protest began earlier this fall, culminating a week ago with a hunger strike by Jonathan Butler, a black graduate student, and the announcement that Missouri's black football players, with full support from their coaching staff and teammates, would not practice or participate in any games until Wolfe stepped down.

The cynic in me believes that had the football team not taken that step, Butler would probably be hospitalized as a result of his hunger strike, and the status quo would remain the same. Things weren't moving forward in terms of resolving the issues. Wolfe basically said that "systemic oppression just meant you didn't think you were getting the same opportunities," an incredibly tone deaf sentiment to the very real oppression that happens to individuals every single day based on nothing more than skin color. Media coverage was also basically non-existent, until the team made their announcement. Suddenly, everyone knew about Mizzou.

Slate's Jessica Huseman came to a similar conclusion in her article today, "Should It Really Take a Football Team to Force Change on Campus?" She discusses the fact that the issues should have been resolved long before the team became involved, and seemed a little surprised, it seemed to me, that it would take a football team to change things.

It's not that surprising, though. Missouri stood to lose one million dollars if the team forfeited on Saturday. Money still rules the world, and it's a lesson the Civil Rights leaders of the 1950s and 60s knew well. The Montgomery Bus Boycotts worked because they disrupted the economics of the system. Find the people to protest, and cause people to lose the almighty dollar, and things get changed.

We have a long way to go in this country before we are truly equal, and there are many more battles to be fought. I hate that it takes such crude steps for people to do what is right. But in this case, it worked, and hopefully with a new administration, progress can begin at the school.

So, good for you, Mizzou. You've made the nation proud.