Missouri White Football Player Says Team Isn’t United On Strike

Years from now, we will look back at the events in the Missouri area as ground zero for the new civil rights movement in America. Saturday night, the Legion of Black Collegians announced that more the 30 members of the Mizzou football program would go on strike until university president, Tim Wolfe sends his official resignation.

The football players – including white teammates and Coach Gary Pinkel – posted this photo in solidarity.

The team is slated to play BYU on Saturday.

The movement began last week when Jonathan Butler -a black graduate student- began a hunger strike last week to draw awareness to the issue. It picked up steam as the football team joined, and continues to gain momentum with several grad students walking out of class Monday morning.

Missouri is a predominately white campus, however over the last few weeks, several racist incidents have taken place that students feel need to be addressed.

In September, Payton Head- a black student and president of the Missouri Students Association – was racially abused while walking around on campus. The school waited almost a week to acknowledge the incident and students protested the university’s silence.

Another incident happened in October. Members of the Legion of Black Collegians were rehearsing for a play and were harassed on campus. A passerby yelled the ‘N-word’ at the group.

In addition to that, a swastika symbol was traced on the bathroom wall of a new residence hall, in feces.

Students have also started a petition that has over 2,000 signatures.

Cornerback, John Gibson tweeted about the issue:

“[The decision] has nothing to do with our coaches. Our coaches are 100% behind us. Including the white ones.”

But one anonymous white player has said that the united front being presented isn’t exactly truthful.

“As much as we want to say everyone is united, half the team and coaches — black and white — are pissed,” the player, who wished to remain anonymous, told ESPN. “If we were 9-0, this wouldn’t be happening.”

The player, who is white, spoke on the condition of anonymity. Coaches told the team not to talk to the media because they thought the situation “would blow over eventually.”

“Not everyone agrees with the decision [to stop all football activities],” the player said. “Most people are pissed, including the black guys [on the team].”

The Missouri campus sits just outside of Ferguson, the town who’s riots sparked the #BlackLivesMatter movement earlier this year.