It Can't Happen Here

         From Mizzou, to Ithaca, Yale, Occidental, Lewis and Clark, and many more colleges through out United States, students have began to protest against racism on campus. In addition to seeking justice and determining who perpetrators of racist threats and actions are, it is also important to understand why students are beginning to mobilize and protest.
          First, racism is a problem deeply embedded in universities and institutions of higher learning. Many colleges and universities have facilities or are named after racists legacies, like Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Colleges are universities are also embedded in deeply racial histories that put minority students at a disadvantage. University of Missouri was established in 1839 but did not begin to admit black and minority students until 1950 (hence the name Mizzou 1950: for the first nine black students admitted into campus). The school, and many other schools, have been established for hundreds of years before they included minority students. Thus this creates systems within the school that does not provide minority students with services and spaces that are inclusive. Many colleges and universities are proud of their legacies yet subdue their racial past that it is often believed to become solved by just admitting a small pool of students of color, otherwise known as tokenism. For example, Brown University only began to confront its involvement with the slave trade until they hired an African-American woman as its president; she started a commission that looked into Brown's relationship with the slave trade. Therefore, student protests and demands throughout college campuses are due to minority students reacting, speaking out, and making their schools' racist legacies transparent.
            Additionally, many students, especially white students, are dissociated with racism that still occurs today. According to a survey conducted by UCLA, out of more than 150,000 incoming college students, only 24 percent (in 2015) believe that racism still exists. So when events erupt on campuses, the primary reaction is "I can't believe this happens". However, the perpetrators of these actions are students within the colleges and universities itself. This is primarily due to white students perceiving themselves to be open minded, yet were socialized into believing that racism (which can span from language to more extreme forms) and microaggressions are acceptable. Additionally, college and university campuses are perceived to be open minded spaces devoid from intolerant thought,  creating a false sense of security. So protests occur when someone who is socialized into believing a form of racism is acceptable negatively utilize the liberal idea of college campuses to express their "free speech".
          Finally, the rise and use of social media has mobilized students faster than before. From the #BlackLivesMatter to the #FergusonTaughtMe movement, student activists are utilizing social media to mobilize other students and garner administrator attention. Additionally social media is used to quickly spread news throughout campus and to the public.
          The sudden emergence of student protests throughout the country garnered public attention through social media, but brought more transparency to institutions of higher education and how white students are socialized about racism. Yet these protests will continue to happen and systematic oppression cannot be erased through them. With the history of the United States deeply rooted in racism, it is unknown if it will ever be "fixed" or "solved".

Picture is from a protest at Ithaca College
Title is a quote from the New York Times article
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/10/us/racism-college-campuses-protests-missouri/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/campus-racism-protests-didnt-come-out-of-nowhere_56464a87e4b08cda3488bfb4
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/12/us/racial-discrimination-protests-ignite-at-colleges-across-the-us.html?_r=0
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/11/racism-campus-protests-mizzou-yale-craig-wilder