Racism also refers to the actions and practices guided by these beliefs and practices. While these acts of intolerance are racist in the sense that they articulate a set of beliefs about a particular group’s inferior status based on that group’s racial membership, racism isn’t just a set of beliefs or attitudes. Shouting racial slurs, or proclaiming your own individual hatred of a certain racial group, are familiar tropes. Numerous sociological studies show that often, when people discuss racism, they frame it as individual acts of hatred toward members of a racial or ethnic minority group. My instincts tell me that this friend’s statement is more a reflection of a failure to understand what racism actually is. I’m a three-time alum from the University of Missouri, and spent roughly twelve years living, working, and going to school in the city. This person is near my age (I’m 33), so I was shocked to hear him claim that Columbia is an exemplar for racial tolerance. However, I want to broaden the perspective, and situate the demands for inclusivity and equity within the larger narrative of Columbia, Missouri.Ī few days ago, a Facebook friend declared, “Never in our lifetime have we had any real racism that represented a large portion of our society as a whole…I’ve lived in Columbia my entire life and never has there been a real race problem until now.” With so much coverage over recent racial unrest at my alma mater, the University of Missouri, I thought it would be appropriate to provide a bit more context-historical and geographical-for those interested in understanding the underlying conditions of racial inequality that many students, faculty, and staff are calling attention toward.
This thesis serves as the foundation for how local papers and historians discuss Sharp End and the history of racial exclusion in Columbia, Missouri. For a strong academic treatment of Sharp End, see Jason Jindrich’s 2002 Master’s Thesis for the University of Missouri’s Department of Geography. I’ve provided links to the sources I consulted while writing this piece. ** Note: Much of this history has been covered elsewhere, and much more substantively.
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