At the University of Missouri, I’ve seen and experienced the racism these students are fighting against

As a second-year faculty member in the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri, I have not only experienced an oppressive climate on campus, but also have witnessed the various experiences students and black alumni have recently described.

This past summer, I experienced an incident that I believe is reflective of this environment. I attended a writing retreat hosted by academic leaders and staff on campus. During a writing break, which included a historical lecture about a particular painting, a coordinator of this retreat expressed her belief that some slaves did not want to leave the South and “had good homes.” If I had not been present, I do not believe this expression would have been challenged, as many others in the room remained silent. And this incident is just one of many.

So let me be clear about what an expression like this actually does to our society and what it represents. Such statements are reflective of institutional racism at this university, which you can see in the lack of diverse faculty and staff, the university’s curricula, lack of resources and inaction. The fact that there are educators who believe in upholding the myths of slavery on campus helps to maintain discriminatory practices by administrators, faculty and white students.

I know faculty of color who have been called “n-words” and have been disrespected, simply because they look different. I know faculty of color, including myself, who have been confronted and challenged by white students. In courses that require students to learn by being uncomfortable, where issues of systemic oppression are discussed and examined, some white students have attempted to challenge our knowledge and expertise. While maybe not all faculty have the same experiences, feelings of isolation and alienation have found many of us. Intersected forms of oppression, including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia, ableism and classism impact everyone on campus — even those who look the other way.

In some instances, some of us feel pressured into creating “safe spaces” for our white students. Yet, questions about ensuring the safety of students of color in class are not prioritized. Even though my status on tenure-track places makes me vulnerable, it is important to note that these experiences are heightened for students of color. Students of color have even less support, fewer resources on campus and continue to live in unsafe environments where some white students have threatened their ability to simply breathe, thrive and succeed in higher education.

The events of this fall semester extend from this university’s history. Particularly since the shooting and killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri — just 120 miles down the road — student activists have taken up the cause to fight the university’s institutionalized forms of oppression. It was students who demonstrated in support of Michael Brown, his family and the non-indictment of Darren Wilson. This dialogue brought the issue of police brutality to the university and it opened a space for more conversations about students’ experiences with racism on campus. The simple necessity of security for students on campus directly relates to the vulnerability of black people in this country.

I can only speak for myself when I say that the resignation of President Tim Wolfe is one step in the long fight toward progress. The demands that #ConcernedStudent1950 have announced should be taken seriously by this community, including the Board of Curators, the various administrators, faculty, staff and students. What comes next should be a united effort to diversify the various bodies and voices in our community.

Recruitment and retention of students and faculty of color is essential. Students of color should be able to see professors who look like themselves. Leadership should be diverse. The voices who will lead us should create an inclusive space where marginalized voices matter. We should be able to just be. We should be focusing on how to move the university, a space that should focus on the production of knowledge, into a space where students can thrive and succeed. We should be preparing them to go into the real world. There is no doubt that the students who led the movement are ready to enter the post-university world. As a faculty member at the University of Missouri, I am proud to support this historical movement.

But we still have a long way to go, and we will not be deterred. Dismantling the system we have now is extremely important. Implementing more diverse curricula and bringing in diverse voices is another step to making this community more inclusive. We also need to connect what we see here in Columbia to larger national conversations about disenfranchisement, mass incarceration, legal lynching by police officers and white men alike, homophobia and ongoing violence against women. These forms of discrimination are all connected.

I hope we can move forward to create a model for higher education. The students have brought us here. With recent incidents on campuses throughout the country, it is important that we continue to raise awareness about the struggles marginalized voices continue to face. I hope we can move forward as a collective body of concerned community members.

Cristina Mislán is an assistant professor of journalism studies in the Missouri School of Journalism, where she teaches courses in qualitative research methods and cross-cultural journalism.