Transcripts For ALJAZAM Inside Story 20151119

Welcome to inside story. Im ray suarez. At the university of missouri, black students finally figured they had had enough. Nay had complained about the racist remarks, the slights, the exclusion from the main stream of campus life. They said administrators did little or nothing to repair a racially hostile atmosphere. Now just a few weeks later, the president is out, the chancellor is out, and the universitys Football Team realized his power goes far beyond sacking a quarterback. Reporter lying down for racial respect in new york demanding the oweser of a dean of a Small College in california, and the College President at the university of missouri. Students are reaching back to the days of mass demonstrations. I was in college during the iraq war, and saw student activism, and there hasnt been enough student activism. I think its great to see the students rallying around these big issues. Reporter but there are no grand plans to change the world, no chants of end the war or ban the bomb. These are more personal rallies with immediate demands, and when it comes to racism on campus, the head of African American studies at northwestern explains why. Students in the late 1960s, had an easier time raising the issue of racism, because they were part of the black liberation movement. I think today there is this widespread notion that america is a colorblind society. We have a black man in the white house, so students face this initial challenge of just being taken seriously. Reporter millions turned the other cheek in the face of racial insults. But nowadays, students are taking names and keeping score. Students are being threatened. We have an administration that have been under constant attack and threats. Reporter he says minority protesters really started speaking up after last years violence in ferguson, missouri, but at times the backlash has been fierce. A single sentence from an anonymous student can set up panic. And the aclu warned against schools being so hard to be inclusive, that they wind up stifling free speech. Money may wind up playing its biggest role yet in campus protests. Missouris president resigned less than 48 hours after the black Football Players threatened a walkout. A prospect that could have cost the School Millions of dollars. Suddenly money is involved, you have got to quit. Just resign. You think thats the case . That could be the case. Thats funny. Reporter cynical or not, proesters got what they wanted. Joining me now as we look at the new wave of activism on college campuses, reading, writing, and race, stacey washington, the National Leadership network of black conservatives. Senior Program Officer at the foundation for individual rights in education, and corey walker, a dean at winston salem, State University in north carolina. Arri, there are stories coming from around the country of things that go all the way from bee nine ignorance, my understanding all the way to racial intolerance and an mouse. It sounds terrible. Your organization has its ear to the ground in campuses around the country. What does it seem like is going on there . Well, i should say that students who are expressing these grievances are experiencing something, and what that that is, i i cant tell you directly. Im not on campus. The fire is not on campus. What matters to us is that these students are free to express their their concerns and air their grievances, and its very important that they be allowed to do so and engage in this kind of protest, which is exactly how change and progress happens. Corey walker, you are working at an historically black college, but i know you have worked in other places. What is the temper when you see these things rolling out across the country, what is your impression of it . What you are seeing is a new generation of students who are connecting their movements on campus to broader movements for change across society and even across the world. When you look at the black Student Movement in missouri, i think immediately to the Fees Must Fall Movement in south africa, and also the different different movements around for globalizing democratic societies that we see in and around europe and around latin and south america. So this is a brood trend of folks who are looking at how do we change society . How do we make it more equitable . How do we really live up to our freedoms and Constitutional Rights and obligations, and how do we do this within a brood society . This is a new generation, utilizing new Media Technologies to connect it to broader movements, to other movements, so it is not isolated. The campus and the community are one, and this campus and Community Nexus speaks to the broader issues throughout our country. Corey walker you are a dean, are you surprised so many heads have rolled in the last couple of weeks . No, im not surprised. One thing that were seeing is students are really rising up and looking for new leadership, looking for boldin bold innovative leadership. And being true intellectual leader and being bold intellectual leaders. So say the ideas around democracy or inclusivity or diversity are core values of the institutions and should be part of the every day practice of every institution. The students are rightly and justly holding administrators accountable for their language and the institutional practices that must be felt that must be real in their every day life, and must be a part of their educational experience. These are students committed in the deepest truest deepest truest sense to a brood and deep democracy and our administrators, my colleagues should make sure that we listen to them, listen to them carefully, but most importantly, actress ponsably, and act in a manner that fulfills our mandate for being academic and intellectual leaders at these institutions. Stacey washington, you are based in the midwest, did these students have a legit gripe . And are they choosing the right weapons to fight their battles . Well, i think they possibly do have a legitimate thing that they are protesting. The question is, should they have some of them on academic scholarship stepped away from that, and thumb their nose at taxpayers and individuals who are helping to fund their College Experience by saying they would strike from playing football . And should they ignore the knockout attacks that have been so prevalent on campus that fox 2 news has a hot spot. And these are children having facial reconstruction surgery. If you want to be heard, you have to come from a position of bringing everyone together, and not excluding any of the issues that might be impacting the campus where you are protesting. By bringing up those two points, do you mean to imply that anybody involved with the Football Team is also involved with these knockout attacks . No, thats not what i said at all. What im saying is if were talking about the atmosphere on a campus, all of the things that play a factor should be considered. If white students feel attacked by members of the Greater Community in columbia, and they are being beaten to within an inch of their life and those are the white students concerns, and the black students are receiving some sort of exclusion or what have you, then those are things that impact the dialogue and decision by say the University President on how to approach or listen to the concerns of each side. So im advocating for everyone to sit down and have a conversation about what is going on on campus, to hear each other, and then make decisions, instead of just protesting and asking people to be fired, asking white people to denounce their privilege. Some white people dont have lots of money. Some dont have the benefits of being part of the 1 , if you will. How do you know every white person has privilege. These are discussions that if you leave the rhetoric out and just have conversations solutions could be had. Among the rights any student can claim on campus, does he or she are have the right to demand not to be offended. The turmoil at yale began with halloween costumes. Reading, writing, and race, its the inside story. You are watching inside story. Im ray suarez. If you are a minority student in a mixedrace school, should you regard the school as a mere extension of a society which sometimes excludes you, mocks you, treats you differently, or should you carry on to campus the expectation that you shouldnt have to put up with the mockery, the con d condemaccusation. You shouldnt have to put up with a steady stream of baloney that the rest of society all too regularly dishes out. Ari cone, casety, washington, and corey walker with still with me. And corey walker, i do not mean to dismiss these concerns at all, but one of the hallmarks of this ring correct wave of demonstrations has been sometimes attempts to control the way other people use language. Should we be concerned . Well, i dont think we should be concerned. What i think we should begin to do is to understand how language is a a key medium for our struggles in how we understand and define our society, how we understand and define ourselves, how we understand and define who we are as american citizens, and that has always been subject for debate, up for grabs, that has always been contested by various groups throughout American History and throughout our history as human beings. What we have to do is make sure we dont conflate the real issues of students facing a hostile, intense, and very physically violent environment with certain ideas around free speech that are deemed in the abstract that seek to unite us, which we all agree on, but actually operate very divisively in terms of denying the very presence, the very identity of individuals in their physical being. Ari cone, it sounds triflal, but its not, there were a lot of heated arguments at yale about some costumes being allowed at halloween. Does the campus have a say about that . The campus can certainly encourage students to think carefully before they do certain things. So in some sense, yes, a college or university can certainly encourage whatever values it would like to instill in its students, but i think that making the argument that free speech a distraction doesnt do it enough service. Free speech is critically important, particularly on a college campus, and yes, it might distract from the underlying message that these protesters are trying to make, but these protesters should then stop calling for sensorship and other ill liberal demands. They are creating the distraction by putting free speech at the forefront. And these students every right to advocate for any type of censorship they would like, but incumbent on administrators to not exceed to those demands to protect the role of education as the marketplace of ideas. Stacey washington yet at Smith College in massachusetts, the organizers of a student sitin excluded the media, including oncampus reporters, saying by taking a neutral stance, journalists and media are being complacent in our fight and thus making sure their sitin wasnt covered. I found it a perverse set of ideas being offered there. The way you get your protest to have a lot of attention put on it is to admit the media and talk about why you are protesting to clearly articulate your ideas and passion for what you believe in, so they will spread that out into the greater society. Everyone sees the media coverage, and they maybe catch the fire and head over to twitter or some online social media and offer support. Its a really limited idea that you cant allow the media to come in and listen to what you are chanting about or protesting about, so they are hurting themselves. But were seeing that all over. Here at ma sue, the students said this is a black healing space. They also said they didnt want media there. A student who also contributed to espn was told were going to have you kicked out, and all he wanted to do was find out why they were protesting, get some photographs, and spread the message. So its really it goes against what they are looking for, and its perplexing. Stay with us. One of the most striking parts of the university of missouris story was the role played by the Football Team. Players support for students demanding a better campus environment ended up playing a big role in the drama at missouri. Reading, writing, and race, its the inside story. sao u pha sao u stphfplt u stphfplt welcome back to inside story. Im ray suarez. One of the most remarkable aspects of the showdowns the university of missouri was the role played by the tigers, the mizzou Football Team. They said they wouldnt play unless the president resigned and the university addressed claims about the hostile racial atmosphere on campus. The school risked losing a Million Dollars if the players dont suit up. The administration resigned. Reading writing and race this time on the program. My guests are still with me. And stacey earlier in the program, you brought up the Football Team. Didnt they show in many ways they are the most powerful black students on campus . Well, with good reason. They waited to lodge their demand. I think he should have come back to them and said anyone who is not at practice tomorrow night and is here on a scholarship has their scholarship revoked and those students wont be on campus anymore. That would have made a distinct choice for those students, because its not fair to use something that is not yours, namely scholarship activity, playing football, to impress upon the University President a point about whether or not he is dealing with race. I think they should have had other means of approaching the situation. And he admitted he hadnt been addressing their needs in a timely fashion, but to have him resign, i dont think that was handled properly, and there was a lack of leadership when he was there, and now there is a lack of leadership because they are transitioning into someone new. Often minority athletes are some of the most conservative people on campus, because they are being very careful, and hoping to some day cash in with a major payday. They often dont stick their necks out. And here we saw them do it in a very public way at missouri. I think what you are seeing can a stream. You can look at the 1968 olympics, the ways in which student athletes have been a part of freedom movements and movements for liberation. And it doesnt mean that they are conservative. It means that they see themselves first and foremost as what they are. They are students. And this conversation has moved away from the very fact that these are students who have to make tremendous tremendous obligations to their athletic prowess, but first and foremost they are there to get an education, and when that education is being impeded by an environment that was not facilitate their holistic development, then they have every right and obligation to respond, and they responded well, and rightly so that the cabbing demmic leadership, understand that this was nthd just a recent failure of leadership, but a systemic failure of leadership that needed to be replaced. I think we need to focus most importantly that these are students. They are students at the university of missouri, and they have to have an educational environment that enhances their intellectual abilities, that prepares them to take whatever direction in life, whether its on the Playing Field or in a courtroom or in but what about saystacy washington point, that they are for the most part scholarship students. They are being paid they are being they have received a scholarship for their athletic prowess, but its a scholarship for their education, and if their education is not being fulfilled, if they dont have an environment where they can fully take advantage of that education, then they have to rightly and justly look at the entire system in which they are in. They are not just going to be quiet and not do anything, and just play on the football field. Its unreasonable and inhuman. Just a short amount of time for ari. Is there a teachable moment here . Can we really have a very necessary debate about the First Amendment and free speech on campus . I think absolutely. And i think president barack obama said it best the other day when he said that to be a good activist and citizen, you have to make sure you are listening to the other side, and everyone is hearing each other out, and thats how we do it, and we should not be afraid of bad ideas, we counter bad ideas with more ideas, the remedy for bad speech is better speech. I want to thank my guests, corey walker, stacey, washington, and ari cone. Ill be back in a moment with a final thought on prejudice and how hard it is to kill bad ideas even really bad ones. Stay with us. Its inside story. When i was in college the sight of another latino student at my overwhelmingly White University was a pleasant surprise. It must be said overhearing racially and ethnically offensive marks, classroom debate from a privileged point of view was also expected, assumed. It was just what happened. It wasnt because it was a particularly hostile environment or anything of the kind, it was just the times. You knew it was out there. Your parents might have warned you about it, before you heard it fist hand. It was the way the world was, and your job was to show the bigots they were wrong by the way you lived your life. When i got out into the workplace and heard these things again, i was ready for it, not surprised and not crushed by it either. Todays college students, my own kids are becoming adults in a very different world, even when it retains some of the features of those bad old times. You students who think you shouldnt have to hear this stuff, you are right, you shouldnt. But sometimes you do. And if you think the university can shield you from that, im not sure you are right to expect it. Im not sure it can. Oppose bigots, and bigotry when you can. Bare up under it when you cant change it. You will emerge from the experience, tougher, smarter, and ready to make them eat their words. Im ray suarez, and thats the inside story. This is aljazeera america, live from new york city. Im tony harris. Mastermind killed. The man suspected of plotting the french attacks died in yesterdays raid. How to stop fleeing refugees from going into the united states. How isil is going hollywood to recruit members. And theres plenty of fish in the sea. Why